Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Again, I agree with the Deputy. We are only at the concept stage in this area, as are all countries. When we read all the reports about great hydrogen plans, and there is evidence going into it now, we must remember that we are all at an early stage. It is not yet clear and certain what exactly the alternative fuels will be. There is a variety of potential options as well as different modes and capabilities, including, as the Deputy mentioned, hauling goods across the Shannon Estuary with a drone.

I said on the radio earlier that I am looking forward to my visit to Shannon Airport on Friday. Shannon may have more potential than anywhere else to be a location for developing and testing such new solutions. It has a great history, including the use of flying boats, and was, in effect, our first real point of connection. Looking further south to Valentia Island, it was the first telecommunications connection with north-west America. Shannon has a very long runway and can take very heavy payloads, which can increase efficiency. It also has a small geographical benefit in being furthest west. If we are looking at the very large volume of transatlantic traffic from Europe to America, Shannon, even just at a concept level, has a comparative competitive advantage. As it happens, it is also in a location that will probably offer one of our greatest sources of clean renewable energy, with offshore wind that can be brought ashore and a very strong grid, the Moneypoint lines being very close. It has very advanced manufacturing and a very large transport industry hub. For that variety of reasons, there is great potential there.

At the Glasgow COP conference, I made the case for Shannon to the chief executive of United Airlines and a number of other people involved in the industry. We started initial talks about whether they would be interested if we had some sort of hub where we could test latest technologies. Governments providing that sort of safe-place location to test new sustainable transport systems makes a lot of sense. It is only at a concept phase but it may be something that gives Shannon an advantage over other airports and destinations.