Ms Tara Connolly:

I want to add that it is not guaranteed that an LNG terminal can be turned into a hydrogen terminal. On the RWE project that was mentioned, they are actually building an ammonia import terminal right beside an LNG import terminal. They are going to start studying how this could work together. In Brussels, we have often been told that we should not worry about LNG terminals because they will just be used to import hydrogen. I do not think that they will be used to import hydrogen; that will probably be done with ammonia. That needs to be studied, rather than saying that it will automatically happen. It is not a given. There are also significant questions around the technology and, of course, the cost of building an LNG terminal and five years after that, trying to turn it into an ammonia import terminal. There are questions around the cost implications of that. What happens to the energy security of not having access to the LNG that was considered so crucial? Does the committee believe that there will be a big enough global hydrogen market that we will import significant quantities?

That will provide us with security of supply post-2030. The timelines of all of this are quite important.

On the derogations, I have been working on Brussels energy policy for ten years and I have seen plenty of derogations when they made sense, especially around Brexit. To give one example, in the recently agreed trans-European energy infrastructure regulation, the TEN-E regulation, which is where the projects of common interest, PCI, derives, the Commission proposed not just projects of common interest but a special category of projects of mutual interest with third countries. My understanding is that this was specifically to facilitate infrastructure projects between the UK and Ireland and, therefore, conversation about how the Irish situation can be properly managed within the current context would be worthwhile.