Sinn Fein has hit out over Ireland's "complete lack of vision" of renewable energy sources.

The party's spokesperson on Climate Action, Brian Stanley TD, said that the State is "way behind" in terms of developing a wide portfolio of renewable energy sources.

He said: "An EU Commission report highlights this State as having one of the best resources in Europe for biogas. This is a sustainable form of gas produced from farm and animal waste. It is well developed across Europe and yet we are not out of the blocks in terms of its development.

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"This is an energy source that can be used to complement the intermittent nature of wind, and this must form as the vital energy mix, if we are ever to replace fossil fuels. The energy supply of the future will be from many different sources, used to complement each other. A major change in government policy needs to happen to create the use of renewable indigenous sustainable energy sources such as biogas, biomass, geo-thermal, solar and hydro. These are all needed to combat climate change and to replace fossil fuels."

(CD/MH)