Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

My long-term objective is not to increase capacity. My long-term objective is to drive down the need for fossil fuels in the first place.

To answer the Deputy's specific question in the short term, NORA funds the purchasing, financing and holding of strategic oil stocks by way of a 0.02 cent levy per litre on certain petroleum products in the State. NORA has reached an agreement with the ESB for the leasing of redundant oil storage at its site at Poolbeg in Dublin. Refurbishing of this facility for the storage of approximately 120,000 tonnes of Ireland's oil reserves has commenced. The completion of this project could provide a valuable increase in the oil reserves stored in Dublin Port, through which approximately half of all Ireland's oil product is transported. That project is expected to be completed in 2019. In addition, NORA has negotiated with SSE for the leasing of 55,000 tonnes of redundant storage at its site at Great Island in Wexford. It is hoped to complete this project in 2019. That will bring onto the island far more capacity than would have been the case.

In tandem with bringing that capacity back into the State, as well as trying to reduce overall consumption and develop alternative renewable energy sources on the island, we believe we can have a substantial amount of our needs based here in the longer term. Ultimately, it is my intention that we would not have a need for a significant amount of strategic oil reserves because we would no longer be dependent on imported fossil fuels, which is running at approximately €4.8 billion a year.

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