Letters to the Editor: Smart use of electricity resources

'The Government should have a discount rate set out to encourage more smart use or save renewable power'

Opened in 1929, Ardnacrusha  cost around 20% of Ireland’s GDP to build and it produced 95% of the country’s electricity needs. File picture

In the 1970s our neighbours in Mayo had a small dairy farm and chicken house. They had a back up generator powered by a tractor for outages. Their neighbours had candles, oil lamps, and turf fires. We were envious.

In the early 1980s as an apprentice electrician in Galway, I, with three classes of apprentices, visited Ardnacrusha Power Station which opened in 1929 . It cost around 20% of Ireland’s GDP to build and it produced 95% of the country’s electricity needs. A question was asked: What happens to all the power produced at night? Answer: Nothing, it was lost.

Power generated 24/7/365 by wind, solar, hydro or gas (fossil) can be stored in batteries. The trick is to store as much power from renewables or when a grid is not under pressure, ie, at night. Battery packs can help bridge the gap when fossil is needed, such as early morning or from 5pm to 7pm. Night and EV rates between 11pm and 8am are cheaper, so this is when the majority of storage should be bought and then used during day or peak times.

ESB Networks recently said changes by 50,000 of its members have moved enough electricity away from peak hours to power 53,000 homes for a day. This reduces our dependency in the oil and gas market. It reduces their excuse to keep increasing prices or more importantly reduce prices.

The Government’s budget should have set out a grant or tax break for homes to put in battery packs regardless of whether they put in solar or not as some homes — apartments for example — may be able to have batteries but not solar. At times like this these are better than any investment plan. A euro saved is better than a euro made.

For isolated areas there should also be a grant to encourage people to put in generator points and to buy generators for outages. It took over 19 days and outside help to restore power after Storm Éowyn in 2025.

The Government, in conjunction with the the independent Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) and ESB Networks, should have a discount rate set out to encourage more smart use or save renewable power with our 2m smart meters. This reduces fossil fuel use and ultimately saves money.

Insulated hot water tanks and storage heaters is another indirect way of storing power at reduced rates if controlled right or using above surplus renewable energy.

In Australia, 400,000 battery installations has helped balance the grid. In the Czech Republic, excess solar is sold to their neighbours.

In the Netherlands they are actively testing and rolling out bidirectional charging: vehicle to grid and vehicle to home.

The Government should to give incentives for all off the above and create a Meitheal approach to energy use 100 years after Ardnacrusha.

We could even get to 95% renewable use like 1929 and export our excess renewable via the Celtic Interconnector.

John Healy, Bohermore, Galway

Budget was bad for those on welfare

I’m disgusted at the insult to people on welfare — mostly the elderly. I’m one of them. I’m 70 and on the widow’s pension, and the moment I heard of the €3 extra for the living alone allowance I thought I was going to throw up. How dare they even mention €3 like it was a big deal.

Are they for real? Their kids wouldn’t even know how to spend €3. How much do they spend on house keeping a week? Do they even know what €10 would get you? The Government is out of touch with the people and the way we are living hand to mouth.

The pensioners of Ireland should make a stand to shame this awful government. We are the people that worked to get this country back on its feet. We paid heavy taxes and insurance and we get left behind all the time. We must have a better increase of at least €25 and at least food vouchers of €100 a month.

I’m sure they can come to agreement with the major supermarkets on this. We deserve this, we worked for this, and we are not going to be insulted while they sit in comfort at our expense. At the end of the day we are their employers and they are not working very well so sometimes we have to sack them and will do in the next election.

Patricia Corcoran, Cappagh Green, Finglas, Dublin

State funding for horses and dogs

In recent days, we heard about government departments competing fiercely to advance their own vital projects or economic priorities, with each department hoping to get as big as possible a slice of the budgetary cake. That’s understandable, and indeed commendable, and they are right to seek the best possible funding for what’s important to them.

But how can it possibly make sense to fork out a whopping €102m to horse and greyhound racing, with the usual 80-20 split between the two?

With so many sectors crying out for State support, it’s mind-boggling to witness the ongoing love affair between these industries and our political establishment.

Both of them claim to be sensational money-spinners, generating wealth and boosting the rural economy. So why the need for lavish state funding?

Greyhound racing is rife with animal welfare problems … the damning spectre of cruelty hangs over it … with weekly reports of injuries, deaths, over-breeding, and unnecessary culling of greyhounds.

But even if the sport were completely above board, and the dogs loved every minute of it, there’s still the question: how can the annual budgetary allocation be justified?

Other sports could only dream of the support horse and dog racing get, including such wholesome and popular pursuits as soccer, rugby, Gaelic football, tennis, and cycling, which are grossly underfunded.

Horse and greyhound racing receive more State funding than all our Olympic and local sporting activities combined.

And what an indictment of political priorities that domestic, sexual, and gender-based violence initiatives are allocated a mere fraction of the funds that benefit those two gambling-driven sectors.

Sadly, the horse and greyhound industries are politically better connected than any of the poorly funded sports. I presume that’s why successive governments gloss over so many other worthy sports, and infinitely more deserving causes, in favour of dogs and horses running around in circles.

John Fitzgerald, Callan, Co Kilkenny

Minister misses out on meaningfulness

“It is deeply unfair on the general public for there to be significant disruption to their daily lives because unions are unwilling to sit down and engage constructively. “Meaningful progress can only be achieved where both parties are open to constructive and sustained engagement.” I had to laugh.

These are the words of a spokesperson from the Department of Public Expenditure, communicating the position of minister Jack Chambers on teachers' protests. Taking aim at those troublesome public service unions and excoriating them for not trying to work things out at the table. Espousing the view that progress can only be achieved through dialogue and engagement, and deeming it appropriate and fair to chastise as unreasonable those who are not open to talking.

Does somebody want to tell justice minister Jim O’ Callaghan?

Because he, as a minister within the same coalition government — and indeed the same party — seems to have missed that memo.

Mr O’Callaghan has from the get-go treated the criminal justice system like his own personal plaything and seemingly a mere stepping stone in his own personal ambitions, whilst treating the lawyers working within it with nothing but contempt.

Unlike the public service unions who are being reactive, Mr O’Callaghan started his particular fire. He overhauled the Criminal Legal Aid system without any proper data or analysis, he sidelined the lawyers expected to work under his new scheme, and he unilaterally imposed a new regime despite being told it was unworkable.

He chose to ignore all third party warnings, he sought to smear the lawyers in the media to try and undermine their position, and he told everyone else that they’re in the wrong.

He has consistently refused to engage in any meaningful way and rejected opportunities to talk, he has refused to consider mediation, and he has ducked the scrutiny of the Oireachtas justice committee.

He has blindly asserted that there is no problem, that the courts are functioning effectively, and that there will be no negotiation. And all the while, he has not only been causing “significant disruption” but has been imperilling fundamental rights that the State is obliged to protect, and brought the criminal justice system crashing down.

Has anyone told him that “meaningful progress can only be achieved where both parties are open to constructive and sustained engagement”?

Niall Walsh, Solicitor, Capel St, Dublin

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