The Green Party has slammed the European Commission after the new Energy Paper launched excludes the UK and Ireland.

One of the main proposals is the promotion of new regional electricity markets.

Green Party Leader Eamon Ryan commented: "Our Government have once again dropped the ball on climate and energy policy. The Energy Union paper contains key measures to improve the security and competitiveness of gas and electricity supplies, but none of the initiatives involve Ireland in any progressive way. It is as if our Government was not even at the negotiating table looking for measures that would suit our needs.

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"Five years ago the Irish Government led the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on the development of a North Seas Offshore Grid Initiative. It would have helped to bring down the cost of electricity and would have allowed us to balance our variable power supplies and create a major new economic opportunity for Ireland. The initiative has now been abandoned and replaced by a smaller regional market which will be centred around Germany and exclude the UK and Ireland.

"The lack of European thinking in the UK Government has not helped, but by failing to speak up, our own Government have isolated us with the euro-sceptics in UKIP and the Conservative Party. That is going to cost the Irish consumer dearly, and we will now miss out on the lower electricity prices and increased investment that regional markets will bring."

(CD/MH)