Ireland is spending €1 million every hour on fossil fuels, energy expert Dr Paul Deane has told Behind the Story.
It comes as a recent report from the Irish Academy of Engineering says Ireland needs to rebalance its energy policy.
One of the report's suggestions is that Ireland should examine the possibility of small scale nuclear reactors. The UK announced funding for three SMRs [small modular reactors] in June 2025.
Responding to the report, Dr Paul Deane, Senior Lecturer in Clean Energy Futures at University College Cork (UCC), explained what a small modular reactor is.
He described it as like the "Tesco Express of nuclear power plants".
"They do all the kind of same stuff, but they’re just smaller," he said.
"The appeal is that they’re smaller, so that means that [for] countries like Ireland they will fit neatly into our power system."
'Closer to 2040'
Dr Deane said there is still one big challenge to this scenario.
"They’re not commercially available at the moment," he said.
"There’s two operational reactors in the world at the moment and maybe two or three more - a handful - coming online later this year.
"It probably won’t be available commercially in countries like Ireland for about 10 or 15 years, so you’re looking at closer to 2040".
While small modular reactors may work in the future, Dr Deane believes we need to focus on scaling up renewables like wind and solar.
"Ireland is one of the most fossil-fuel reliant economies in Europe at the moment," he said.
"About 80% of all the energy that we use in our daily lives comes from fossil fuels - and actually most of that is imported.
"Most of it is imported and the challenge with that is when you rely on others to produce energy for you, you pay the price that they want".
Fran McNulty and Aisling Kenny also talk to RTÉ’s Juliette Gash who was watching proceedings at the Dáil media committee. Discussions included podcasts, conflict of interest and Ivan Yates.
You can listen to Behind the Story which is available on the RTÉ Radio Player.
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