Oil companies taking advantage of Iran crisis, says Ahern

Labour TD Ciáran Ahern has identified the government’s cycle when it comes to a crisis response.

Speaking in the Dáil last week, the Dublin South-West TD remarked “what we have seen is the usual cycle whenever a crisis falls at this government’s feet.”

“First, there is paralysis. Second, there is dithering. Third, there is a cobbled-together piece of PR that does not address the problem. We are possibly in the middle of that process now, at the advanced dithering stage, with the promise of some kind of plan next week, we hope.”

The Labour TD said that the government’s approach to the ongoing crisis in the Middle East, and the subsequent jump in oil prices, has not been strong enough.

The government’s “wait-and-see” approach has been defended by government TDs, saying that the war is a volatile situation which makes planning difficult.

The Tánaiste said, “considering the level of significant international volatility, I strongly believe that any intervention should, in the first instance, be for a short period of time.”

“This is to fulfil two objectives. First, to enable the assistance to be applied quickly. Second, to provide the government with the time and the space to adapt our response should this fast-moving and evolving situation require it.”

“I do not believe there is anyone on any side of this House who can speak with great certainty about where the conflict in the Middle East and the Gulf region will go, and indeed the true scale of the medium-term economic consequences of an enduring conflict. The volatility is that acute.”

Ahern said, “the government has reacted far too slowly to a rapidly escalating problem and the crisis seems to be getting ahead of it,” noting that it is the second energy crisis in four years.

“How are we being price gouged again? How have we allowed ourselves to be caught by surprise?” he asked.

Ahern alluded to the government’s anti-green agenda in his address to the Dáil, with Ahern being a vocal critic of the government relying on the support of climate sceptic rural independents for a Dáil majority.

Ahern noted the crisis comes back to Ireland’s “overdependence on unreliable, intermittent, imported fossil fuels. We are overexposed in this country, even compared with our European neighbours, when it comes to the amount of fossil fuels we continue to import. This crisis should serve as a reminder to the government – not that it should need one – of the urgency with which we need to transition our economy away from its reliance on fossil fuels and towards clean, indigenous, renewable energy.”

“Wind energy produced off the Irish coast will not get stuck in the Strait of Hormuz. The inertia from the government in building up our offshore capacity can no longer be tolerated. It leaves us vulnerable to an increasingly unstable geopolitical arena, and it is ordinary households that pay the price.”

The Labour environmental spokesperson stated, “the giant companies that provide us with oil and gas products that heat our homes or fuel our cars are quick to respond to a crisis and turn it into an opportunity.”

“This government has lacked the required urgency and seems to be playing catch-up. Who gets caught in the middle of this thirst for profit from the private sector and the inertia from the state? It is the hardworking families across the country who just keep paying more and more to live their daily lives. We must urgently move away from our over-reliance on fossil fuels.