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

I apologise. I was at a Cabinet subcommittee. I will briefly add to what the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, has said. We are trained on developing this strategy. We agree with the Opposition that it is central to the development of our energy future. There is real potential for large-scale offshore wind energy and other renewable sources, which can use electrolysis to create green hydrogen as the centre of our industrial and energy strategy. It is at an early stage for every country. Even other countries in Europe which are talking a lot about hydrogen are the start of their development paths for large-scale green hydrogen. It is likely to be initially centred around large industrial users, power generation and transport users rather than being distributed widely. In the development of our offshore wind energy plan, which will be State-led, we can make sure that we incorporate the hydrogen plan. The two go together.

The public consultation, which was started as part of the development of our hydrogen strategy, is critical. We believe that the Government is doing what the Bill is proposing. We look forward to coming back in six months, having delivered the sort of strategy that is being proposed.

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