Nationalise Natural Resources

  • Nationalise the State’s Gas and Oil Fields. We would nationalise the state’s oil and gas reserves and use them to switch the economy to a carbon neutral basis by 2035.
  • Increase Taxes on Energy Companies. We support taxing corporate profits to fund the switch to renewable forms of energy generation and invest in wave, solar and wind power generation.
  • Ban Fracking and Shale Gas. We oppose any attempt to introduce fracking into Ireland and pledge full support to communities that are opposing such projects. There is currently a ban on onshore fracking but no counterpart on offshore fracking. We would pass legislation to close this loophole. We would also ban the import of gas from fracking overseas.
  • Shale gas will do nothing to reduce carbon emissions, and its use in other countries has simply taken investment away from renewables and shored up the fossil fuel industry and its infrastructure

Renewable Energy

  • Switch to Renewables with Democratic Consultation. We will insure that the switch to renewable energy, (wind, wave, solar, thermal and biomass) is democratically controlled and aimed at ensuring a sustainable and carbon neutral economy. At present the small advances in total amount of energy produced by wind or solar energy is at the dictate of the market and the profit margins of companies involved.
  • Diffuse renewables to every town and city whilst ensure communities have ownership and control of all projects. We will ensure that wind and solar energy are harnessed at local levels and at scales that will make profound differences to energy generation, not to the profits of existing companies.
  • Move to Environmentally Friendly Biofuels/Biomass. We oppose the way in which biofuels are currently being harvested. This is often disguised as an environmentally friendly measure to combat global climate change. It is not. These measures will have a negligible impact on carbon emissions, but are having profound effects on the poorest communities in the developing world.
  • Oppose corporate land grabs. Recent policies have seen an effective land grab by multinational corporations and others in many parts of the world that have destroyed the livelihoods of peasants. The result is that biofuel monocultures are replacing food production and are increasing the food insecurity and malnutrition of the world’s poorest. We will support sustainable use of indigenous biomass where possible and in conjunction with a radical policy for our forests and woodlands. We will ensure that increases in the use of biofuels will not impact on food production here or in the developing world.