Dr. Paul Deane:

Gas will undoubtedly play an important role in Ireland's transition to a low carbon economy. Primarily, it will be coupled with carbon capture and storage devices. The commitments which Ireland signed up to under the Paris Climate Change Agreement require a drastic and dramatic curtailment in our greenhouse gas emissions. In the future most, although not all, fossil fuels will have to be coupled with some sort of ingenious technology which either captures those emissions or reduces them. The fundamental guiding principle by which to assess this kind of Bill is whether it advances the Government's position towards a low carbon and climate resilient economy? If the answer is "Yes", then it has merit and deserves scrutiny. There is a distinction. In the future, most fossil fuels, and primarily gas, will have to be coupled with some sort of storage or capture technology for us to meet our climate change objectives.