Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 14 July 2016
25. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his views on the effects of the departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union in terms of the knock-on effect of security of energy supply for the Republic of Ireland. [21630/16]
View answerWhile the result of the UK referendum is not the one that we hoped for, we fully accept and respect the outcome of the democratic process in the UK. Ireland has always been highly dependent on imports of energy products. In 2014 Ireland had an import dependency of 85% with energy imports costing circa €5.7 billion. Indigenous energy sources from renewable energy and natural gas supplies from Corrib will reduce this dependency in the coming years.
Ireland holds a stock of 90 days of oil is in accordance with EU legislation and International Energy Agency rules. This is held as a strategic reserve to be used in the event of a supply disruption. Over 60% of these stocks are held in Ireland with the rest held in other EU Member States, including the United Kingdom. In the absence of available storage in Ireland, the continued holding of stocks in the UK, including in Northern Ireland, continues to be necessary. This need will be part of any discussions Ireland will have with the EU and the UK.
Ireland is connected with the UK by a number of gas and electricity interconnectors. Additional electricity interconnectors to Northern Ireland, Wales and France are at various stages of development. There is excellent cooperation between the UK and Ireland on gas and electricity security of supply and both countries have cooperated very closely at EU level. It is important that this good cooperation with the UK continues and l will continue to work with both our EU partners and our colleagues in the UK to this end.
