Cathal Berry (Kildare South, Independent)
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94. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the measures he has taken to enhance Ireland's energy security for the next 12 months; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19071/22]

Cathal Berry (Kildare South, Independent)
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I listened intently to the Minister's response to Deputy O'Rourke in respect of energy security. Perhaps my question is almost a follow-on from that. Specifically, will the Minister outline his plan to enhance Ireland's energy security over the next 12 months?

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The immediate-term key is that we continue to monitor international gas and oil energy markets and to consult with our EU and international partners on appropriate measures, if necessary, to ensure energy security in light of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The European Commission is engaging with other countries to ensure sufficient and timely supply of natural gas to the EU from diverse sources across the globe in order to avoid supply shocks, including those that could result from disruptions.

Nationally, my Department is liaising closely with those State bodies that have statutory roles in respect of energy security and emergency management, including the National Oil Reserves Agency, which is responsible for maintaining Ireland's strategic oil stocks; the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, which oversees emergency planning for gas and electricity; Gas Networks Ireland, which is responsible for emergency planning of the natural gas network; and EirGrid, whose roles include planning for and managing the electricity system during emergencies, and which works closely with ESB Networks, which has statutory responsibility for managing the electricity distribution system. The existing arrangements are being examined by my Department and the relevant agencies to see if they require any modification to deal with the specific challenges posed to energy security by the war in Ukraine.

In addition, the National Cyber Security Centre is currently operating at a heightened state of preparedness in response to recent cyber incidents and the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. The National Cyber Security Centre is in ongoing contact with its counterparts in the EU, the UK, the US and other countries to share information and to monitor possible threats. The National Cyber Security Centre continues to work closely with the Defence Forces and the Garda Síochána and is in frequent contact with operators of critical infrastructure and services to monitor for possible malicious cyber activity.

Cathal Berry (Kildare South, Independent)
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I thank the Minister for his detailed response. I agree with him that we will be okay in short term. It is reassuring to hear that there is a lot of work going on behind the scenes. We are fortunate to be facing into the summer now, which should take a bit of pressure off the system. My concern is, post-Hallowe'en, in six months' time, when we will face into the next winter, whether we will be able to ride out that storm. I thank the Minister for confirming that an energy security review is ongoing. Perhaps he could expand on that slightly. Who is taking the lead on that review? Is there any deadline for its completion? Will the report be published?

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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Our Department is taking the lead on this. The Secretary General has set up a special energy security review group, which is meeting weekly. We expect to be able to publish a more detailed framework analysis to inform the public, other Departments and industry in the coming days or weeks. That analysis will look at a variety of aspects to this. We also need to look at further specific measures to help consumers, particularly with debt management, and some of the regulatory approaches we can take to help people through this difficult period. As I said earlier, we need to look at ways in which we can accelerate the development of our own renewable power supplies, promoting energy efficiency and looking at the more medium- and long-term energy security aspects. I have had two meetings in the past two or three weeks with the International Energy Agency, which has a central role in respect of the markets, particularly the oil markets, which are probably one of the areas most at risk for us because of the Russian crisis. As I said to Deputy O'Rourke earlier, there is a shortfall of something like 3 million barrels a day in international markets because the Russian exports cannot get access to markets as readily as before. That is why we have been engaged in all stock releases-----

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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Minister, you are way over time.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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-----while working with the IEA on that market security issue.

Cathal Berry (Kildare South, Independent)
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Excellent. It is very reassuring to hear that response. Following on from the Minister's response to Deputy O'Rourke, he mentioned the potential import ban on Russian fossil fuels.

I very much agree with the Government’s position of that. I think that most Deputies in the Chamber would too. I thank the Minister for reassuring us that we should be okay from a coal and a natural gas point of view. He did mention that oil is our Achilles heel, for obvious geographical reasons. Perhaps the Minister could outline where we are in respect of a strategic oil reserve here in this country. He mentioned the National Oil Reserves Agency, NORA, in response to me. Could he outline if we have 90 days of supply? Where is it located? Is it all in Cork, or are some of the reserves in different European countries? Will we have access to that in extremes?

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The Deputy is right that we went into this crisis in good stead because the National Oil Reserves Agency to my mind has done a very good job. We have a lot of stock. We have a 90-day stock that we are required to have under International Energy Agency rules. The majority of that is held within the island. We have even looked at some of the security aspects of that over the past ten to 15 years, while recognising that the national distribution system is not just one distribution system, but has regional characteristics. Whitegate in Cork is a very strong centre because it is our main processing plant and is our only refinery.

On the Dublin market and the distribution from the Dublin area, I remember when I was in office 12 or 15 years ago, that was one of the strategic issues that we had to consider. Much work has been done to try to improve our stocks storage system on a national level such that if there is a disruption, we can balance it and manage it regionally. In the first release of stocks, we did some 220,000 barrels of oil as part of that. That was our fair share of the IEA process. That was ticketed in Denmark, but-----

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I thank the Minister.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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-----some of those stocks may end up back on the Irish market as physical stocks. I think that we are well served by NORA. In my experience, it has been giving good, timely advice on this crisis-----

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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The Minister should note that we are over time.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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-----and their presence is a reassurance.