Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

It is critical that we develop clean electricity because it can only be green hydrogen. As a State, we will not go down the route of hydrogen coming from natural gas which would only worsen our energy security issue. Some 90% of our energy is imported into this country at the present time. We have to change this for climate and other reasons.

The green hydrogen strategy goes hand in glove with the renewable strategy. Renewable electricity will give us the power supply, through electrolysis, for green hydrogen. We are looking at a variety of different areas to accelerate that, to answer the Deputy's first question today on how we start to accelerate carbon reduction. I am working within the public service to establish new fast delivery teams that would bring together agencies and different Departments which have a key role in that acceleration.

One of the acceleration task force teams will be on the offshore renewables side. That is to make sure we get our auctions for offshore renewables up and out and get the ports in place to be able to deliver it. Green hydrogen will be connected to that because, as the Deputy said, the two go together. That will give the certainty industry is looking for.

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