Éamon Ó Cuív on Offshore Progress, Buses, Forestry and Solar
Éamon Ó Cuív addressed the minister on offshore energy development, local transport, forestry and renewable supports, urging faster administrative and legal action and stronger local protections. He warned community funds lack geographic safeguards and raised concerns about bus services, corporatisation of land, feed-in tariffs and motorway charging.
Offshore development and community funds
Éamon Ó Cuív said progress on offshore requires three elements - fast, efficient, transparent administrative systems, timely legal decisions and genuine community buy-in. He expressed concern that community funds do not specify a geographic area for spending and warned constituents fear money will be spent far from the most effective communities.
Energy storage and solar feed-in tariffs
He argued for expedited development of electricity and hydrogen storage. He also highlighted problems with feed-in tariffs, saying hundreds in rural areas want to sell solar into the grid but are being given the runaround by companies promising tariffs.
Rural bus services and Galway links
Ó Cuív challenged the proposal of three buses a day to the nearest town, noting most people in his area want direct travel to Galway for universities, the hospital and jobs. He said buses are full by the halfway point on major arterial routes and criticised the lack of late-evening services from Galway to Clifton, with no buses leaving later than 6.10pm.
Forestry ownership and farmer involvement
He warned against corporatisation of land ownership in relation to forestry and argued that the same planting could be achieved through farmers and farmer cooperatives if appropriate incentives were provided. He cautioned against giving land away "willy-nilly" after long efforts to reclaim it.
Motorway charging and regional exclusion
Ó Cuív noted plans for motorway charging on main routes and warned that, in practice, this approach will exclude several counties from the scheme - naming Sligo, Mayo, Roscommon, Leight, Donegal and Cavan - raising concerns about unequal access and coverage.
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Minister, I have to say I am very disappointed that the debate is so short and I will try to raise as many issues as I can in a very short time. The first thing we need to do is really progress the offshore. And to do that there are three elements. Administrative, we need fast, efficient, transparent administrative systems. We need to change the legal system so that decisions are given in good time. And the third thing is we need to ensure community buy-in. And I am concerned that the community funds do not specify a geographic area where the money should be spent. And there is major concern in my constituency that the money will be spent far away from the most effective communities. The second issue I would just like to touch on is the importance of creating storage of electricity and hydrogen is a very obvious one. And again I think we need to expedite that. The third one I noticed in the notes we were given is that you are giving us three buses a day into the nearest town. But the reality is, if you live where I live, the vast majority of people do not want to go to the nearest town, they want to go to Galway. Because there are two universities there and there is a hospital there and there is major employment there. And what do we find? Yes, they are using the buses, but they find two main problems. One is that the buses are full halfway to Galway and all the major arterial routes, Headford, Clarenbridge, Spiddle, Oaked Road and so on. And the second thing is, it is hard to believe that in this day and age, no bus leaves Galway for Clifton later than 6.10 in the evening. It is absolutely incredible. The next thing I would have to say is that I am very concerned about corporatisation of the ownership of land in relation to forestry. We could get the same amount of planting done by farmers if the incentives were there. We spent long enough trying to get our own land back, not to give it away willy-nilly. I cannot understand why we cannot work with the farmers and farmer cooperatives to ensure the necessary planting. The next point I would like to raise, Minister, because I am sure I have used all my time, is the issue of the feed-in tariffs. There are hundreds of people in my constituency, particularly in the rural areas, who are mad to sell solar into the grid. But they keep getting the push-off from the companies who have promised to give them a feed-in tariff. And then we will talk about trying to persuade people to go green. The final point I would like to make is that I understand they are going to put in, but I always watch the small print, charging systems on the motorways. It is said on the news this morning on the main routes, but it is motorways. The reality is that that means that the counties of Sligo, Mayo, Roscommon, Leight, Donegal and Cavan are once again excluded. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
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