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

I am not sure whether the Government has made a formal decision on this matter. We need to give consideration to the fact that we will continue to need to use natural gas as a fuel for the next number of decades. We just signed off the other day on a major investment in new power plants, which we need, and those power plants will be using natural gas in the main. While natural gas is a fossil fuel and contributes to climate change, it is much better than coal and oil. There are some decisions that have to be teased out there. There is also a difference between blue gas, which comes from under the sea, and fracked gas, which is much dirtier. I am not sure the Government has made a decision on that just yet. I will have to come back to the Deputy on it.

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