"Green" policies are destroying this country

If you built nuclear sufficient to meet peak demand, you wouldn't need to use any gas when the winds not blowing and its dark. With 96% availability, only 4% of your needs might be met from gas, and none at all if you used some of the off peak capacity to make and store H2, while you export the rest of the excess to the UK or France. And nuclear costs less than offshore wind to build.

And that's why I said to meet peak demand and export the excess at non peak times the way France has been doing or turn it into H2 for HGV transport, buses, export, whatever. H2 for home heating would seem like a very good use for any excess capacity. There are innumerable profitable uses - making fertiliser, for instance. Germany would take any amount of H2 made with the non peak excess. The existing wind farm output could be dedicated to making liquid H2 for export because the intermittency wouldn't be an issue, I'd imagine.

The UAE reactors cost less per GW than the next big Scottish offshore wind farm will.

The 5.3 gwh nuclear plant cost over 24 billion dollars (in a country that allows slave labour and where the land its built on is basically free) so would cost much more if built in a non dictatorship country with respect for human rights)

Where did you see Scottish offshore wind costing close to 5 billion dollars per gwh?

...i think sf will try stick it to the banks, but they ll struggle, i think theyre gonna struggle in general, but thats another days debate, theres astonishing levels of complexities involved in our financial sectors, most employees arent trying to stiff the people, we created these institutions to help provide us with our needs, but they have now morphed into some train wreck predatory and parasitic mess. the overall goals of maximizing returns has now endangered us all, including these institutions themselves, but i do agree that public banks are now critically needed, to try stabilise our financial sectors as a whole

As has been detailed the EU Commission now considers there is a role for natural gas and nuclear as a means to facilitate the transition towards a predominantly renewable-based future

As for Europe and Ireland this is not optional. Ireland needs a safe secure and reliable form of energy in addition to renewable energy generation. Whilst we currently have indigenous sources of natural gas which supply approx 30% of our energy needs, the green party in its infinite wisdom have decided to enable legislation banning all future natural gas exploration.

So far you've spectacularly failed to acknowledge that the idea of banning all future natural gas exploration is a humongousely stupid idea. You now seem to be rulling out any nuclear option?

So where does that leave Ireland, when the present green party policy is that we shouldn't be dependent on imported fuels and mainland Europe is increasingly up **** creek without a paddle because of the invasion of Ukraine and sanctions against Russia?

Actually, his phone was switched off when an emergency cabinet conference call was called at 2am. Big difference between refusing to come to a meeting and not being aware it was taking place

But regardless, gormleys presence or otherwise wouldn't have made a blind bit of difference. Even if he objected he would have been outvoted by the FF ministers, and the greens didn't have a crystal ball or the expert advice that should have led them to bring down the government over that decision in the middle of a massive economic crisis

Guaranteeing deposits and nationalising the banks might have actually been the right call to make, the bondholders should probably not have been included, but that's all complex ancient history

Blaming the greens for the banking crisis is, yet another, completely distorted version of history

credit/debt plays a critical role in creating functioning economies and societies, it always has, long before banks existed, unfortunately our modern version of this has become highly dysfunctional, particularly since the advocation of deregulation of these markets, we urgently need to put these Jeanie's back in the bottle, or they might just destroy our economies and societies. it has now become critical for their growth and dominance, to maintain a strong rate of growth of credit and debt, but this only truly benefits their motivations and objectives, i do personally feel public banks are now urgently needed, to try bring the whole financial sector back towards more democratic means, as the alternative is far more plutocratic dominant, and highly dangerous, including for itself....

the fundamental idea of money creation via credit/debt, is actually a good one, but the whole system has now become highly parasitic and predatory, again public banks generally have within their mandate, that they must serve the public, public banks such as the bank of north dakota and the german public banks do seem to be very much publicly liked and orientated, even with their potential dangers, i still advocate for them, again, they would give us an element of autonomy from global financial markets, who are just deemed hell bent on heavily indebting us, and extracting as much for themselves, and leaving us in destitute...