Ireland not reliant on Russian gas but cut in supplies could impact costs, Taoiseach says

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said while Ireland was not at all as reliant on Russian gas as other EU member states a reduction in supplies could impact energy costs.

He was speaking to reporters about proposals from Brussels to shave 15 per cent off gas usage to safeguard the bloc’s supplies in the event of Russian supplies being cut.

”Some member states are very very heavily reliant on Russian gas and we are not as all as reliant,” he told RTE.

“If overall supply levels reduce that has real consequences for cost and price of energy,” he said.

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[ EU proposes 15% cut in gas consumption due to Russian supply concern ]

The European Commission warned on Wednesday that the European Union faces the risk of further gas supply cuts “due to the Kremlin’s weaponisation of gas exports”.

The Ursula von der Leyen commission is proposing a plan to reduce gas use in Europe by 15 per cent until next spring – and new legal powers that would allow it impose a mandatory gas demand reduction on all member states in the event of a supply crisis.

Brussels wants member states to come up with new plans for gas demand reduction in order to bolster its reserves over the winter. Materials distributed by the commission outline how power plants can be shifted away from gas – including to coal or other heavy fuels “where necessary”.

[ Fears of gas rationing grow following EU statement ]

Heating thresholds

It also suggests “mandatory reduction (in heating and cooling) in public buildings”, “consumption reduction in commercial centres, offices and public spaces” and “new temperature and hourly thresholds for heating” including in the household sector using gas.

Talks at an official level will get under way next Friday before EU energy ministers meet on Tuesday to discuss the proposal. The Government gave a guarded response to the proposals. A spokesman for the Department for Environment would not be drawn on Ireland’s approach to the talks, saying it welcomed the communication from the commission.

“Ireland will work closely with other member states to seek to agree the terms of the regulation that the communication is expected to include,” the spokesman added.

Senior Government sources said the proposal had to be “assessed properly before any proper response is given”. However, some in the Coalition expressed scepticism about how Irish cuts in consumption, due to our relative insulation from the wider European gas market, could benefit the bloc substantially. Most of our gas supply is routed through the UK which is not in the EU, putting Ireland in a different position to many other EU members.

Sacrificed gas

Prof John FitzGerald, a member of the Climate Change Advisory Council, said the issue was complicated as any sacrificed Irish gas would have to, in effect, be sent to the continent through pipelines landing in Britain for it to make a difference.

That, in turn, would depend on Britain agreeing to facilitate the exchange and there being sufficient capacity in its interconnected pipes. “If the UK is maxing out on exporting to Europe, if we consume less, they can’t export that to Europe, it just means there’s more for the UK and our sacrifices just make it cheaper for Britain. That would not be desirable,” he said.

Irish concerns are more focused around price and affordability than supply, industry figures said. Ibec, the employers body, called for more detail on government plans to push ahead with State aid supports for industry badly impacted by the war or associated spikes in energy prices.

Industry figures said on Wednesday that the Irish market was more exposed to high prices than a supply crunch. “The worry about curtailment of gas has been overstated,” one source said.