“From an Ireland Inc perspective, even if there wasn’t a climate emergency, a lot of what we need to do around energy makes sense for the country anyway”
William Walsh has seen the evolution of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) from an offshoot of Enterprise Ireland to a 250-strong state agency tasked with rolling out retrofits and electric cars to Irish households and businesses - among many other tasks. Now the head of the agency, Walsh joins Chief Economics Writer Stephen Kinsella to discuss the challenges of the energy transition, its benefits beyond climate change obligations, and the long-term political backing he needs to deliver change from a €600 million annual budget.
