Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)

Tuigim an cheist. I want to put this in context. We go back to the Energy Security in Ireland to 2030 report that we published, and we published the Cambridge Economic Policy Associates report as well. We offered briefings on that too. A very clear risk was identified in that we have no gas reserve in this country. That is why we are proceeding with the floating storage and regasification unit, FSRU, which will be State-owned, State-led and State-operated. I expect we will receive a decision shortly from Gas Networks Ireland, GNI, on preferred locations. State-owned and State-led is absolutely needed and required. My focus is on expanding renewables, reducing our dependency on fossil fuels and moving away from them. We operate an open and transparent legal regulatory and planning consenting framework. Any application for fossil fuel infrastructure in Ireland will be subject to appropriate approvals by the relevant bodies. They also have to have regard to the provisions of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021. Government policy on reducing fossil fuel use is set out in our programme for Government. We are absolutely committed to it. We remain of the view that long-term energy security is best achieved through substantial growth in indigenous clean, renewable energy; improvements in energy efficiency, which we have discussed; electrification of heat and transport; and increased electrical interconnection with our neighbours. The Celtic interconnector is under construction. We will have the MaresConnect interconnector, and we are engaging with European partners on another interconnector to continental Europe. Any application made for any fossil fuel generation is a matter for the planning authority, but it must have regard to our climate Act and our programme for Government.

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