Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to hear the hydrogen strategy will be announced. I am looking at what other countries have done. The two things play off each other quite often. There is only one chemical exchange between hydrogen and ammonia and so many other demands are fulfilled by doing that conversion.

I think there is a role for Shannon in this. In the 1970s, Aeroflot had a big presence in Shannon Airport where it constructed a fuel farm. At any time, there is capacity there to store 33,000 tonnes of aviation fuel. We expect that to transition and we will be in the space of SAF and sustainable fuels very shortly. As we go about the national strategy, Shannon has to be key. When we go to hydrogen-powered flights, it will be something of a return to the pioneering days where aeroplanes probably will have to touch down a little more and refuel a little more often. It brings our west of Ireland airports much more into play in relation to transatlantic flights. We will probably be out of the Dallas to Frankfurt space flights for a while. We are probably talking about touching down in Ireland and taking off again. A hydrogen strategy should include how and where we refuel planes and using assets such as the fuel farm in Shannon.