Eamon Ryan: By 2025, Ireland will generate enough solar electricity to power the country
Transport Ryan Munications Climate And Environment, Eamon Minister Picture: Minister The And For Chaney/collins Gareth For
Eamon Ryan has said that by 2025, the country will be generating enough solar electricity to power the entire country.
The Green Party leader said such an announcement means that the country’s solar power targets are being brought forward by five years.
In his leader’s address to the Green Party conference in Athlone, Mr Ryan said: “We will have installed 5,000MW of capacity by the time this Government finishes its term. What that means is that by 2025 there will be sunny afternoons when we are generating enough solar electricity to power the entire country.
“Just think about it — when the Green Party joined government in 2020, the country was powered by gas on those warm, summer days. By the time we finish in office, we will be powered by the sun,” he said.
Last month, wind energy provided nearly half of all electricity in Ireland, driving down the cost of energy, he said.
“The development of offshore wind will require careful environmental planning and all the time we will be pushing out another local fuel supply,” he told delegates.
"We will be part of the solar revolution that is taking place in our world.
Heralding the party's achievements in Government, he said he cut public transport fares by 20% and by 50% for young adults — in the first drop in public transport fares since 1947.
“In the next two years we will roll out the electric buses and new rural and urban bus services to avoid gridlock and help everyone get around,” he said.
Mr Ryan said that for the first time in his lifetime, the government is starting to reopen rather than close railway lines.
“Earlier this month we started work on restoring the Shannon-Foynes rail line,” he said.
"A week earlier we signed the contract for a new sustainable transport bridge across the Suir to help Waterford grow as the capital of the South-east.
"Next up is a railway station for the people of Moyross and many other communities across the country. Walk out the door and you will see the new pedestrian bridge over the Shannon, connecting the greenways that are growing all over the country."
He said the challenges the Greens face in Government are complex not because ministers don’t care or lack compassion but because they require a wide range of actions that require time, money and careful attention – often in the face of fierce opposition from vested interests.
The Green Party is proud to be the antidote to such populism, he said.
On retrofitting, he said last year the State insulated more than 15,000 homes. “This year it will be 27,000 and next year we will complete 37,000 and continue rising from there. It is the best way of tackling energy poverty, giving everyone a warm, cosy home,” he said.
The electricity system is also rapidly being transformed to power those homes with renewable power so the country is no longer held to ransom by Vladimir Putin or any other fossil fuel interest, Mr Ryan added.
On the party’s electoral chances, he said he is setting a goal that one in ten Irish people will vote for a "green future" in the next elections.
“Such a result would bring in 100 green councillors, a new generation ready to serve both our people and the planet. I am confident that one in ten will cast their vote for the interests of the next generation. For their grandchild, niece or nephew, son or daughter or child next door. This is not a time for staying on the bench or sitting on the fence. We are in the fight of our lives and we are all in it together,” he said.
Speaking earlier to reporters, he said there is a “false narrative” that smaller parties suffer in Government and he is “absolutely convinced” up to 10% of voters “can and they will” support the Greens.
“It’s not easy in Government, it’s never easy, but I think this false narrative in my mind that you’ve the old adage, that the smaller parties suffer in Government, I don’t think that’s an absolutely set rule.”
He said he wouldn’t rule out tax breaks for property developers in the face of the housing crisis. “We’ll look at every different option. You don’t come to this with a kind of ideological position where you’re not going to consider options, we’ll look at every option,” he said.
The Green Party leader pointed to work under way on the expenditure side, such as the move to forward fund stranded build-to-rent developments with planning permission, as well as taxation reforms aimed at bringing vacant land into use and the Croí Cónaithe scheme which funds the refurbishment of vacant properties. But he said: “We have to go further and faster, and that means not ruling anything out."
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