Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

A licence application for uranium mining in Donegal was rejected. We have to explore before we can say there is no uranium in Ireland. I am not coming at this on nuclear energy, however. I am following on from what Deputy Whitmore said about the EPA report, which stated the maximum reduction in emissions Ireland will deliver by 2030 is 22%, unless we invest millions of euro right now. What is the council doing in this regard? While it says this matter is the State’s responsibility, what recommendations is it making to the State when it comes to building infrastructure capacity, especially with regard to projects such as the North-South interconnector? The interconnector was identified in 2008 but it still has not been built. As I said, the recent Spanish grid failure should be a wake-up call for us all. If we need to build resilience and help people who are in energy poverty, it is estimated that the North-South interconnector will result in a reduction of approximately 5%.

What is the council's opinion on the end life of solar farms and offshore and onshore renewable energy? What circular economy solutions has it suggested in that regard?

I am very much in favour of green hydrogen. I understand it is difficult to contain hydrogen. If we are looking at LNG as an interim measure and we cannot row back on that, would the site for the LNG be a possible site for a green hydrogen electrolysis station? The infrastructure will already be there and we could quickly adapt it.

While we have already invested €90 million into Cork Port for its expansion, we need to invest between €250 million and €350 million in that port and other ports in the west if we are to be serious about this. The giant vessels that will be building the offshore renewable energy terminals cannot get into the port at the moment. We need to expand. Is the council putting pressure on the State to make that investment? Without it, we all know what fines we will face. I ask for the witnesses' opinions on those issues.