David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We could probably have a longer debate on this issue. Is there a signed agreement between the UK and Ireland in respect of Ireland's interconnectors and the flow of gas to which the Minister of State referred? It is all very fine stating there is excellent co-operation but what is the nature of that co-operation? Is it a signed agreement between the two countries? As all present are aware, the UK is no longer in the EU.

The Minister of State noted in his response that we have no storage for LNG. There is no gas storage in the State, so if anything happens to those pipelines, we are in trouble. What is the situation in respect of liquid fuels being used to power gas-fired power plants in the event of a gas supply disruption? To what liquid fuels is he referring? Is it gasoline, diesel, kerosene or something else? How much storage is there?

For how long could we depend on that? I noted the Minister of State referred to the REpowerEU. It speaks about diversifying gas supplies via higher liquified natural gas and pipeline imports from non-Russian supplies and larger volumes of biomethane and renewable hydrogen production and imports. We are nowhere on that at the moment. We are dependent on the pipeline from Scotland and that is it. What happens if there is pressure in the UK? I have read that it is a secure supply, the one secure supply in Europe, but it is the only one we have. We know the adage about having all your eggs in one basket. Having all your gas in one pipeline might not be the wisest thing either if anything happens there. I know a review is going on, which will possibly be brought forward to the end of September when the work will start. However, we are into winter then. If anything happens with this gas from the UK, we are in trouble. We must remember that there is a lot of pressure in Europe and further afield. The Minister of State mentioned Norway and Denmark. If the squeeze happens at that end and it transfers into Britain and then here, we are in trouble and we have no contingency plan. The Minister of State has not outlined anything that gives me any solace that there is a contingency plan. If there is storage of LNG in Europe, how does it get here? How do we get it here if the pipeline from Britain is out of action or reduced in some way?

See this speech in context