Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The Deputy will recall that was very much centre stage in our minds because of international developments in which pipelines, including the Nord Stream and Baltic gas pipelines, and fibre-optic networks were taken out. If this happened to the two gas interconnectors coming into this country, it would have very significant repercussions for the Irish public, which we have to try to avoid. The energy security issue is one that we are continuing to examine in real detail. The conditions were made very clear in the report and in discussions at the Oireachtas committee and elsewhere. The facility was to be a strategic one to provide security, not to increase gas consumption. That was the key objective. It was to be temporary, not commercial, in nature, and it was to be a strategic reserve in the event of a gas outage. Further analysis is being done.

One of the issues I am considering further, on which I need to get further research and information, relates to the timeline for introducing such a facility and the timelines within which gas demand may fall to reduce the risk. That has to be examined very closely. We know that, in this decade, we are at risk and are exposed.

It would not be possible to deliver a facility until early in the next decade. If we see then that we are starting to get into timelines of having such a dramatic reduction in gas use, particularly in the electricity generation sector, would it be an alternative way to meet the security risk? In other words, by investing significantly, for example, in further electricity interconnectors with the UK or France or what is fast-evolving storage capability, would it be possible, particularly in electricity production, to be able to manage? By what year or how soon would we see a fall in gas demand occurring faster than originally expected whereby it may make the case for investment in some of the other security measures? This further research is something I have called for and that the Department is looking at before going back to the Oireachtas with detailed analysis.