Sinn Fein launches Powering Ireland 2030 policy

Sinn Féin’s Energy spokesperson Cathal Boylan MLA, has outlined his party’s proposals on energy and its contribution to addressing Climate Change. Following extensive consultation across the sector Sinn Féin launched its Powering Ireland 2030 document at its Árd Fheis in 2018.

The primary aim of the policy is to move away from fossil fuel use to a cleaner and more environmentally sustainable energy mix.

Sinn Féin recognises it must prioritise investment in the delivery of a wider portfolio of energy sources including a much greater emphasis on off-shore wind and sustainable replacements.

Its policy priorities are to ensure that energy is sustainable, secure and affordable.

Sinn Féin’s vision will only be achieved by working in partnership, redirecting investment into a new energy mix and by continuing to support householders, communities, farmers and small businesses with a broader range of grants and supports and introducing measures to enable them to reduce and produce the energy we need.

Some of the measures we would like to introduce to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels would be to conduct a comprehensive spatial mapping exercise of the entire island of Ireland and it’s surrounding waters to identify the optimal locations and potential output for the many different energy technologies; to reform planning processes, to provide greater certainty for security of supply and potential investors including the establishment of a single planning body for the approval of offshore applications similar to that introduced in Scotland.

Sinn Féin would also like to see the establishment of an equivalent to the SEAI for the North to work with the SEAI in the South and a new North-South Implementation Body to further bolster co-operation in the wider field of Energy, with its primary objective being the transition to a low carbon energy system and society.

Learning from the positive experience of other countries, Sinn Féin believes the introduction of a subsidised low cost green loan scheme would enable the purchase of energy efficiency and microgeneration technologies by a wider cohort of households so that increasing numbers can enjoy the resulting lower energy bills.

The above proposals and those contained in our Powering Ireland 2030 document can only be realised through a combination of public and sectoral cooperation.