There is a "high probability" that there won't be enough gas in Europe this winter, a chief economist has warned.
Energy giant Shell has also said rationing energy cannot be ruled out with a "really tough winter in Europe" ahead and warned that energy prices are set to see "significant" rises.
Dan O'Brien, Chief Economist at the Institute of International and European Affairs told RTE's Morning Ireland that Russia's war in Ukraine is going to cause big problems for Europe's gas supply as the winter rolls in.
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"I don't like to be alarmist but we are looking at a really alarming situation coming this winter, particularly when it comes to gas. In the European gas market, we are in an effective war with our main gas supplier," he said.
"The likelihood is that there's a high probability that there simply will not be enough gas in Europe at any price next winter and we're facing shortages of energy."
When asked if he thinks there could be blackouts this winter, Mr O'Brien said: "Yes...I heard one Government Minister talking about that in recent days. We're looking at having to roll out plans to ration energy because if Russia turns off the taps there simply won't be enough energy in Europe at any price.
"It's not that it will be even more expensive, which it will be, but there simply will not be enough to go around and there will have to be a rationing system introduced."
On the topic of whether Ireland is heading towards a recession, Mr O'Brien said the answer is very uncertain.
"It is a really confusing time and even those of us who pour over the data and try to understand what's going on in economies are struggling to understand things," he said.
"A year from now, I think we could have come through the winter and still have low employment which is the most important thing, or we could have gone into a bad recession. I really don't know at the moment."
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