Mr. Noel Cunniffe:

Earlier this year, we published a report on hydrogen and wind energy which looked at the policy asks we would have as a renewable industry to get hydrogen up and running in Ireland. We can share that with committee members afterwards if that would be useful. There are two key issues to highlight. We need a hydrogen strategy for Ireland. Such a strategy is in the process of being developed, but we do not have it yet. We understand the consultation for that will be published shortly. As a country, we need to stimulate not just the supply of hydrogen, which is where the renewable energy comes in, but also the demand for hydrogen. How are we going to shift industries which are currently using oil and gas in particular to try to move them towards hydrogen?

The other point I would make, and the report called it out, is that what will drive the cost of hydrogen is the cost of the renewables that we are developing. The more certainty that we can provide to the development community for renewable electricity through having a planning system, a grid system and a supply chain that works, the cheaper we can produce renewable power and the cheaper we can transition to hydrogen. There are projects involving the development of hydrogen at the moment around Ireland. We think that will play a big role towards the end of the decade and into the 2030s.