Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Thankfully, we do not import very much gas at all from Russia. Roughly half our gas supplies come from our own source north of Mayo and the other half comes from the UK, mainly via Qatar and the North Sea. Thankfully, we are not particularly dependent on Russian gas in this country, but obviously if the gas were to stop flowing into eastern Europe, that would have an effect on the price and that is very likely in the period ahead.

I know the site in Tarbert in north Kerry well. At the time, I remember meeting with Hess when it was the developer ten or 15 years ago. Whatever happens in Tarbert, it will be a ten- or 20-year process. It takes time to build a terminal or facility. I honestly do not believe that a natural gas terminal is the right solution for that site. The site should be used for LHG.

What the Deputy said is true. The problem with wind power is it is not dispatchable. The wind blows when the wind blows and that might not be the time when we need the energy. That is the problem with wind; we cannot store it and it is not dispatchable. The good thing is that there is a solution. Because of technological developments, we can now store wind power either in the form of a battery or as hydrogen. Some of the plants in the midlands that the Deputy mentioned will be transformed into battery storage hubs as they move away from peat to battery power. The solution to the problem with wind whereby it cannot be stored or dispatched is hydrogen. When the wind is blowing and we do not have a demand for energy, we can turn that wind energy into hydrogen, a fuel that can be used in the way we use natural gas now. That is the investment that should be happening on that site. That is the future thinking. That is where the jobs are going to be. That is where the economic development is going to be and that is the kind of project I want to support on that site.

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