Johnny Guirke (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Green hydrogen offers Ireland a significant opportunity to meet our climate targets, North and South. Our island has one of the best offshore wind energy potential in the world, and if we can harness a portion of it for the production of green hydrogen, we can create thousands of jobs in rural Ireland and become exporters of this renewable energy to Europe, which will create wealth for citizens here. We want an all-Ireland approach on this, with a co-ordinated plan to develop hydrogen plants and storage facilities across the island. I assure the House of the co-operation of Sinn Féin ministers in Stormont on this issue. In 2020, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Spain and the EU adopted hydrogen strategies. Unfortunately, in Ireland we have seen very little action on this. The 2021 climate action plan only made fleeting references to green hydrogen. We now need a national green hydrogen strategy that will outline how the State intends to invest in this renewable energy resource to make a return for citizens and provide private industry with a roadmap and assurance that Ireland wants to be a leader in this area.

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