Mr. Donal Moriarty:

Some of these points were covered earlier but I am happy to repeat them. During the course of the summer, Aer Lingus entered into two agreements in California for SAF offtake, that is, taking SAF fuel. From 2026 onwards, over 50% of our fuel requirements from California will be in the form of SAF. We are investing real money in SAF offtake agreements for our future flying. As a group, IAG is very much a leader in the space of sustainability and in investing in SAF production. IAG is partnering with multiple organisations to try to ensure delivery of SAF is available, especially in Europe. From a policy perspective at a European level, there is a disconnect between the mandate of the ReFuelEu aviation initiative and the incentivisation required for the production of SAF to be available within the European Union. We say to the committee and the Department of Transport that incentivisation of SAF production needs to be a key plank of national aviation development policy

Aer Lingus recently commissioned a study through a company called Nova Pangaea, which is a leader in the development of sustainable aviation fuel. The company is conducting a feedstock study on our behalf on the island of Ireland to identify the availability of feedstock, particularly forestry waste. We will publicise that report when it is issued as a contribution to the development of SAF on the island of Ireland.

We welcome the project in Moneypoint, where offshore wind will be used to produce hydrogen, which can be a key component in the development of sustainable aviation fuel. We are very much plugged in to the national civil aviation development programme and its involvement in various projects. Our commitment to sustainability and to sustainable aviation fuel in particular is very real and is being backed up by significant investment by Aer Lingus directly and by IAG at a group level.