Mr. Andrew Murphy:

There is a debate about hydrogen in Europe. We should ramp up it up. Green hydrogen should be produced from excess renewables in Ireland. The question is where we put hydrogen once it has been produced. I am not an expert on electricity grids or heating. There is a role there.

In terms of transport, it does not make sense in cars and vehicles. It is too expensive - it is more costly than batteries. It makes a lot of sense in shipping and aviation because those modes of transport do not have low-carbon alternatives. One cannot put a battery in a plane because it would be too heavy. Likewise, they are too heavy for ships. We are an island, and rely on shipping and aviation to remain connected. We are an island which can have abundant offshore wind.

Other European countries, such as Germany and the Netherlands, are moving ahead with a hydrogen strategy which is producing fuels for their shipping and aviation sectors. I wonder why we are not doing that in Ireland. As I understand it, the programme for Government has a commitment to a hydrogen strategy. It is very important that this is set up. It is important that we are incredibly optimistic about the employment potential that can bring to all parts of Ireland.

On the Senator's final point on shared mobility, it comes back to not seeing this as a case of public transport versus private cars. There is a grey space in between where, as she said, there is shared mobility. Twenty years ago, we did not have the option of using an app or a website to book time in private cars and book cars in advance. It is now possible to do so. The International Transport Forum said two years ago that Dublin can meet most of its mobility needs with 2% private car ownership. We can be a lot more exciting.

I share the Senator's enthusiasm for how Brussels has evolved over the years. There are ample examples of such development around Brussels. It is about finding the right role for public transport and making sure people have access to it when they need it.