Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 8 November 2022
141. Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if he will provide an update on the European Union energy crisis from an European Union perspective; the financial supports that will be available from the European Union; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49075/22]
View answerThe European Council met on 20th October to continue work on Europe’s response to the energy crisis, as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.The European Union has already implemented three different laws over the course of the year, focusing on:
- reducing gas and electricity demand;
- ensuring stocks of gas storage are replenished for the winter; and
- supporting citizens and businesses through the winter. The Council has agreed to continue to work collectively on these issues. The focus of this meeting was on wholesale gas prices. The Council and the European Commission have been called on to urgently submit concrete decisions in a number of areas, including:
- voluntary joint purchasing of gas;
- a new complementary gas price benchmark, that more accurately reflects conditions on the gas market;
- a temporary ‘dynamic price corridor’ on natural gas transactions on the main European gas exchange in the Netherlands;
- a temporary EU framework to cap the price of wholesale gas in electricity generation, while preventing increases in gas consumption;
- fast-tracking the simplification of permitting procedures – to accelerate the roll-out of renewables and grid infrastructure;
- increased efforts to save energy.
More detailed work now urgently needs to be done. Ireland will work closely with its EU counterparts. Ireland secures its gas mainly from the UK, so these measures may not have an immediate impact. However, the expectation is that such measures would lower wholesale gas prices, more generally.
Separately, the European Commission published the REPowerEU plan in May. This is a plan to rapidly reduce dependence on Russian fossil fuels and fast forward the green transition. The REPowerEU plan proposes the provision of additional funding through the Recovery and Resilience Facility to finance investment in diversifying the energy mix of EU Member States. Last month EU Finance Ministers have reached agreement at ECOFIN on the RePowerEU proposal, including the allocation of grant funding among EU Member States. Ireland’s allocation under the proposed methodology would be circa €90m.
