Mr. Denis O'Sullivan:

I will address Deputy Ryan's questions first. The first one was on the 20% renewable gas on the gas network by 2030.

Based on the work that we have done on that we envisage, similar to the SEAI, that approximately 70% of that will come from grass and the other 30% will come from farm waste such as slurry. While we examined at other waste streams, we have not gone into detail on them as of yet as to their potential but we believe that the best benefit is to be had from the agricultural sector.

Several studies have been undertaken on the impact of that on food production, including by UCC, and we have undertaken our own study. We are nowhere close to impacting on food production with that level of renewable gas production. Some of the reports suggest that we could go at least 50% higher before there would be a concern. On the more immediate term and the current drought conditions, the feedstocks for the production of biogas are not produced at the moment they are required for the production of biogas; they are produced a season ahead. The type of ground that is used for that is not grazing ground that is used for cattle. While there are issues with grass growth at the moment, there would not be a conflict in that regard but that is something that would be managed. Finally on that, Teagasc undertook some research which indicated that approximately one third of the productive farmland in Ireland is underutilised at the moment and not producing at its capacity. There is certainly huge scope for that. Our figures do not include that additional capacity that sits there as well.

Over the past three years we have expanded the gas network to Nenagh and Wexford. We have just completed an extension into Listowel and we are working on an extension of the network to Ballymahon, County Longford. In each case an anchor load has signed up with us for a gas supply. The Center Parcs development in Ballymahon is a significant load demand and the company has signed a contract with us for the supply of gas which facilitated the extension to Ballymahon. In completing that extension we are upgrading the pipe size because the cost of upgrading the pipe is proportionately small when all of the civil work is being done on the land anyway. In due course that will allow us to expand the network if sufficient load signs up. In making that decision we assess the potential load demand in Longford town and other areas around there and there is more than sufficient load in that area to sign it up and that underpinned our decision to upgrade the pipe, but the decision to expand into Longford is underpinned by an anchor load in the form of Center Parcs.

I will address some of Deputy Smith's questions but I will pass the question on CCS to my colleague. I did not make any reference to Brexit, Russia in the context of security of supply. My statement mentions that the greater the diversity of supply that we have, the more secure our supply will be. In general, the gas network has proven itself to be extremely robust but without an indigenous supply, we are dependent on the interconnector to Scotland and where we to have multiple sources of gas coming into the network that is a more secure position to be in. Indigenous supplies of gas benefit the economy more than importing gas does in terms of employment and opportunities in that area, but also in terms of emissions. Transporting gas from Scotland consumes energy, albeit a relatively small volume. Indigenous sources are better in that regard.