Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I move: “That the Bill be now read a Second Time.”

I very much appreciate this opportunity to introduce this Bill. It is probably not likely to take up the full 20 minutes allocated. I am very pleased to address the House on Second Stage of the Bill and to be joined by officials from the Department. The Bill is largely administrative and procedural. It provides for contingencies in the event of an emergency rather than introducing major new policy or other provisions. It is important all the same because, as Deputies will be aware, progress is being made and will continue to be made in increasing the use of renewable fuels and electrification within transport and in replacing oil use in heating in accordance with the climate action plan, which we have just discussed. Reduction in petroleum product use will be further driven by the carbon budgets and sectoral emissions ceilings.

Notwithstanding this progress, the State continues to be reliant on oil to a significant extent. As Deputies will be aware, my Department monitors the security of oil supply into the State in the context of the tightening of supplies in European oil markets primarily caused by the war in Ukraine. This monitoring of the oil markets is currently being undertaken in accordance with the national energy security framework through the oil supply subgroup of the energy security emergency group. This subgroup is chaired by the Department and includes representatives from the National Oil Reserves Agency, NORA, the Department of Transport and the main oil importers into the State. Deputies should note that an adequate supply of refined product is currently available in domestic markets and the State's strategic oil reserves provide a strong buffer against any oil emergency. However, my Department, in common with many European member states and as requested by the European Commission, is currently reviewing and strengthening its oil emergency contingency planning measures. The main purpose of the Bill is to strengthen the statutory provisions available to the Government to respond to a severe or prolonged oil emergency in the context of ensuring adequate supplies for emergency and critical services.

This Bill contains four Parts and 31 sections. It amends two Acts: the National Oil Reserves Agency Act 2007 and the Fuels (Control of Supplies) Act 1971. The Bill also brings into effect the transfer of statutory functions relating to renewable transport fuels from the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications to the Minister for Transport following the change in policy responsibility that took place in early 2021. In addition, the Bill provides for the Minister for Transport to make regulations to affect an increase in the use of renewable transport fuels in line with the renewable energy directive.

I will provide a brief overview of the most important measures the Bill addresses before discussing them in more detail. As Deputies may be aware, there is currently no statutory requirement for the Minister to conduct oil emergency contingency planning, nor is there any provision specifying the measures to be included in any plans produced. This proposed legislation amends the 2007 Act to place a statutory onus on the Minister to produce an oil emergency contingency plan and specifies the main elements to be contained within the plan. I am also making provisions requiring co-operation from relevant public bodies and oil companies with the Minister in the making of the plan and in response to any oil emergency. These provisions will facilitate the further development of oil emergency contingency planning.

The Bill also provides for the establishment of a petroleum register. This register will provide the necessary contact information to allow for timely communication between the Minister and the oil companies, the operators of service stations, and other oil wholesalers and retailers operating within the State, in the event it is ever necessary to activate emergency plans. I am also making provisions for the transfer of excise information relating to the disposal by sale of mineral oil within the State from the Revenue Commissioners to the Minister. This data will provide a more complete understanding of oil sales and consumption within the State, including within the service station network, and will assist across a range of oil emergency contingency planning activities.

This legislation amends the 1971 Act to provide for the overall strengthening of the Minister's powers to respond urgently to a fuel emergency. The amendments allow the Minister, by order, where there is a Government order in place during a severe fuel emergency, to provide for direction-making powers to regulate, restrict or control the acquisition, supply, distribution, marketing or use of fuels in order to protect the operation of the electricity grid and other essential services. In addition, I am making provision for the exemption by the Minister for Transport of NORA's strategic stocks, not capable of being blended with biofuels and released to rectify a shortage in the markets, from counting towards a renewable transport fuels obligation. This is being done to remove an anomaly whereby currently strategic stocks that cannot be blended with biofuels nonetheless attract a blending obligation and, to ensure that such stocks will be placed quickly by the oil companies onto the market in an emergency, to protect the operation of critical services.

In 2021, the policy responsibility for renewable transport measures transferred from the remit of the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications to the Minister for Transport. In order to affect the necessary transfer of relevant statutory provisions, including responsibility for the renewable transport fuel obligation scheme, the Bill provides for the transfer of necessary functions under the relevant sections of the 2007 Act and the separation of relevant ministerial responsibilities for operational reasons. Functions within a number of relevant regulations will also be transferred to the Minister for Transport.

The Bill also provides for the Minister for Transport to make regulations to affect an increase in the use of renewable transport fuels and to incentivise their use for particular purposes in line with the renewable energy directive and climate policy. This includes providing for the Minister for Transport to make regulations to provide for the issuing by NORA of additional certificates under the renewable transport fuel obligation scheme to incentivise the use of certain renewable transport fuels. Prior to making such regulations, the Minister for Transport is required to consult relevant Ministers and bodies. In addition, and subject to the consent of the Ministers for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform, the Minister for Transport may make regulations specifying the minimum percentage volume of renewable transport fuel to be present in fuel disposed of by sale or otherwise in the State by a renewable transport fuel obligation account holder. Deputies will note that these provisions are consistent with the aims of the renewable energy directive, are in line with the fuel quality directive and enable the implementation of the E10 petrol grade in the State aligning fuel grades with those available in Northern Ireland.

I now propose to give a more detailed overview of the Bill in each of its four Parts. Part 1 contains standard legislative provisions that cover the Short Title of the Bill and its commencement. Part 2 amends the 2007 Act. I will draw particular attention to the key provisions of Part 2. In sections 4 to 7, we provide for information sharing and co-operation between the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications and the Minister for Transport relating to the governance of the renewable transport fuel scheme functions carried out by NORA. These sections also include a requirement for NORA to provide the Minister for Transport with the relevant information relating to its operation of the scheme.

Section 8 provides that information transferred by the Revenue Commissioners to the Minister may only be used in the exercise of his or her powers and functions relating to the administration of the NORA levy, or in the preparation of the oil emergency plan, and shall not be disclosed by the Minister to any other person for any other purpose whatsoever.

Sections 10 and 11 provide that the Minister for Transport may make regulations authorising NORA to issue additional certificates in respect of renewable transport fuels for the purpose of incentivising the use of these fuels in particular sectors and means of transport. The Minister for Transport may also, with the consent of the Ministers for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform, make regulations specifying the minimum percentage volume of renewable transport fuel to be present in fuel disposed of by sale or otherwise in the State by a renewable transport fuel obligation account holder. The Minister for Transport must consult appropriate bodies as set out in the legislation before making these regulations and consider the effect on fuel prices in the State and the requirements of relevant energy and climate plans, carbon budgets and sectoral emissions ceilings.

Section 14 provides for an exemption from the renewable transport fuel obligation in cases of particular urgency. The Minister for Transport, following consultation with the Minister and NORA, and having regard to relevant climate legislation, may determine that oil stocks to be released that cannot be blended with biofuels be exempt from counting towards obliged parties' renewable transport fuel obligation in cases of particular urgency. Section 18 provides that the Minister for Transport may make regulations and orders in respect of the renewable transport fuel obligation and advanced biofuel obligation.

Section 20 provides for the preparation of an oil emergency plan, to be prepared by the Minister with the assistance of NORA, oil companies, oil consumers and such public bodies as the Minister considers appropriate, and for the plan to be implemented in the event of an oil supply disruption. Provision is made for the plan to contain certain measures to be implemented by the Government, as required, including the timely release of strategic stocks, a reduction in the consumption of oil and the prioritisation of stocks for emergency and critical services. The requirement to include these measures arises from the obligations on member states to conduct the emergency planning contained in the EU oil stocks directive.

Section 21 provides that the Minister shall establish and maintain a register of oil companies to be known as the petroleum register. It specifies the information to be contained in the register and provides for annual reporting by each company of updated information.

Part 3 provides for the transfer of statutory functions relating to renewable transport fuels under the 2007 Act from the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications to the Minister for Transport. I will draw attention to a number of the provisions of Part 3.

Sections 23 to 30, inclusive, provide that the necessary functions relating to renewable transport fuels currently conferred on the Minister under Part 5A of the Act of 2007, SI 33 of 2012, SI 160 of 2017 and regulation 4 as amended by SI 350 of 2022 are transferred to the Minister for Transport on the vesting day. Provision is made for the transfer and continuation of various administrative matters, including those relating to the continuation of business and legal proceedings, and to ensure that relevant statutory instruments made or granted previously are considered in future to be made by the Minister for Transport. Provision is also made for the appointment of a vesting day, subsequent to the commencement of the Act.

Part 4 amends the Fuels (Control of Supplies) Act 1971. Section 31 amends section 3 of the Act of 1971. Section 3 currently provides that where there is a fuel emergency necessitating a Government order under section 1 of the Act, the Minister may, by order under section 3, provide for the regulation or control of the acquisition, supply, distribution or marketing of the type or types of fuels to which the Government order relates. In this Bill, I am also providing that the Minister may, within such an order under section 3, provide for the necessary powers to, by direction in writing, control such oil supplies in this way where it is absolutely necessary to quickly divert oil stocks to generate electricity in the event of a significant gas disruption or to protect the operation of services deemed by the Minister to be critical.

The legislation before the House today also includes some consequential and other technical amendments but the provisions I have outlined are the principal issues. To give the broader context, my understanding is that the need for this legislation and the amendments I have set out, which are, as I have said, largely technical in nature, mainly came from work done in my Department and relevant agencies in the last year to prepare for an oil emergency arising due to the global events with which we are all very familiar, including the sanctioning of Russian oil and gas imports into the EU. It is not that we see this as an immediate possibility but that we are preparing for any such contingency. The lesson from some of the exercises that were done when we were assessing our preparedness was that some further tightening of the legislation was needed so that, if such an emergency were to take place, the Minister of the day would have all powers necessary to protect our society and the critical supply of energy to key sectors within our country. As I have said, it is in a spirit of caution and in preparation for such an eventuality rather than in any expectation of it that the legislation is presented. I commend the legislation and hope for the agreement of the House to the question.

Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein)
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The measures and powers proposed by the Minister in this legislation are extraordinary in nature. They reflect the current challenges we face as a consequence of the illegal invasion by Russia of Ukraine. We must, however, be aware that among the factors that make the introduction of this Bill necessary is the Government's poor policy choices and its failure to invest over the years. Like Deputy O'Rourke, I wish to raise the worries we have about this legislation being rammed through like this. There was no pre-legislative scrutiny or debate, and this seems to be an approach that the Minister and others on that side of the House have taken since they have come to power. This has put energy affordability and security in the precarious position we are being asked to mitigate against. The failure to realise the potential of our own wind and solar resources and the consequent failure to reduce our dependence on imported liquid fossil fuels at pace has also left us excessively exposed to the negative impacts of an energy crisis arising from global events that are out of our hands.

In the Department's statement on this Bill, it admitted that its "main purpose ... is to strengthen the Government's ability to manage stocks in the ... event of a curtailment of oil supplies". It went on to note that the "Bill follows work undertaken by the department last year, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine". Herein lies the problem. The Government has a habit of preparing for potential problems once we are in the heat of these issues. It is the case here because the statement on the website of the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications states that "there is also an onus on the government to provide confidence to households and businesses with respect to the security of Ireland’s energy supply". Yet in the same statement, the Department concedes that "it has [only] been testing emergency plans in recent months". This is all but an admission on the part of the Government that it has failed to manage our energy system adequately and that it is now scrambling to address the key concerns raised with it over the years.

We need to deliver adequate gas storage, which has been recommended for years. Has the Government listened? Given that we find ourselves in a situation in which we are now discussing a Bill of this nature, the answer is obviously in the negative. As for the provisions in this legislation, a central aim is to strengthen the Government's ability to manage our stocks in the event of a curtailment of oil supplies. For this reason, the Minister has been given a range of enhanced powers, including the power, when necessary, to control the supply and distribution of oil within the State in an emergency. This is a considerable power to invest upon the Minister. We must for that reason ensure that it is kept under constant review and that the Minister is accountable to the Dáil on the use of these measures. This again indicates how our reliance on liquid fuels has been allowed to continue. Little was done over the years to enable families to move away from kerosene for home heating, for example, while the supports available to get people into EVs are insignificant and only target those who have the financial means to invest in these vehicles.

The same is the case when it comes to retrofitting, which has left out considerable cohorts of people, such as those in old stone buildings, etc. Ireland has a sea area seven times the size of our landmass, and this area has a long-term potential opportunity of generating 70 GW of ocean energy. With innovations in green hydrogen and battery storage, we have an increasing ability to translate our vast resources into clean energy that could be released on demand. Sinn Féin has promoted this policy for years. We have also been pointing out to the Government the need to recalibrate our planning system to assist in the development of our wind energy resources at sea and the adversarial planning system that results in uncertainty in communities and delays as a result. The Government needs to start listening and to not shut out valid voices because it is intent on being the ones in the right.

Effectively, then, this Bill, while necessary in ways, is in large part the direct consequence of poor Government policy and decision-making. When I talk about decision-making, I am not talking about the decisions we are forced to make in the depths of a crisis; I am talking about the Government's poor record in making provisions for the future and for the unexpected. This Bill is the equivalent of a last-minute scramble by a Government that continuously fails to plan and has a record of making demands of the people to put a sticking plaster on its own shortcomings. Sinn Féin, therefore, will support this Bill but we will be submitting amendments to ensure that the extensive powers being acquired by the Minister are reviewed and limited and that he is held accountable by the Oireachtas.

Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein)
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I am also glad to get the opportunity to speak on this Bill, given how critical energy is now and will be in future and the actions we must take as a State and globally on renewable fuels, including for transport. I spoke to the Minister earlier about public transport. I talked about the climate action plan.

It is a no-brainer for the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications. I am sure Deputy Eamon Ryan is the envy of other Ministers for climate change across Europe when he has the portfolio and all the power that goes along with being the Minister for Transport too.

Speaking of power, my party supports the Bill in principle but we have reservations, and not a little concern, about the power that it gives the Minister. It is very disappointing that we did not get pre-legislative scrutiny at the Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action. We will table amendments, as my two comrades have said, when it comes to Committee Stage. The granting of such power to the Minister demands equally powerful accountability. We want to make sure that the Minister is fully accountable to the Oireachtas in his holding and wielding of it. This is particularly so given the tricky juncture we are at now, with a war in Europe, with future threats to energy that might entail and, across the EU as well, with governments of the right establishing themselves in several countries and the potential consequences if they opt to not act in solidarity with the wider European family. This is particularly so, too, in the current Administration that is prone to silo thinking and is failing steadily on joined-up thinking, whether around the appalling bus service in north Kildare that is putting people back into cars or elsewhere.

I was speaking to the Minister earlier about young people who cannot rely on the bus service such as people living in Prosperous coming into Maynooth. If they cannot rely on the bus service and they cannot afford to buy an electric vehicle, although the grants might be good, they buy a banger of a car to get on the road. I spoke of how the rocketing costs of living and the scary costs of renting are leaving us short of teachers. We need joined-up thinking. We have women having to quit work because they cannot rely on the public transport to get them into work. We have the problems in our health service as well. These are, basically, all the things that make society work and can make or break a life day to day.

I have spoken today about how I realise that the Minister has his work cut out for him. He does not only have to listen to climate deniers across this side of the House; he also has a few in government too. That must be difficult for the Green Party but it illustrates the way, and perhaps the reasons, over ten years the Government has been slow to deliver on renewables. That slowness is shown in the failure to move people away from kerosene to heat their homes and from petrol to diesel in cars, although the Green Party had something to do with the fact that we have so many diesel cars on the road, but we are in a tricky situation where we are exposed and highly dependent on liquid fuel.

It has been recommended for years that we establish good gas storage, most recently in the energy security review, but that was not done either. We have a heck of a lot to do. The Bill gives the Minister a heck of a lot of powers to do it but, for us, accountability is key. We are very disappointed that there was not pre-legislative scrutiny. We will table amendments on Committee Stage and we hope that the Minister will look upon those.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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I am glad to take this opportunity to discuss the Bill to strengthen the State's ability to manage stocks in the event of a curtailment of oil supplies. I listened to the Minister’s assurances that no such shortage is imminent. Indeed, I agree it is important that debates in the House on energy security do not give rise to any sense of panic but it is inevitable that at some stage fossil fuels will no longer be available to us to further exploit. It is also clearly in the context of the brutal invasion of Ukraine by Russia that we are having the debate. That has made us all acutely aware about the risks to our energy security and fuel security. It is both in the context of the climate catastrophe and in the context of that brutal war that we are having this debate. With that in mind, I look forward to further engaging with the Minister on the Bill and on other measures to make more durable the various sectors of everyday life that are most vulnerable to fluctuations in the supply of fossil fuels and energy insecurity.

The Bill offers some welcome clarity around the powers of the Minister, and how quickly they can be deployed to control the supply and distribution of fuel in an emergency. The Bill will also put all aspects of oil emergency planning on a statutory footing and will establish a register of oil suppliers to ensure fast communication to retailers, which is positive.

We are all conscious that, as part of our EU and International Energy Agency obligations, NORA should maintain approximately 85 days of strategic stocks. That stock holding is expected to be at 90 days, I understand, by the end of this month. Without adequate contingency plans, that is not a long enough time.

It is all well and good to protect and preserve fossil fuels for emergency use. Of course, our priority must be reducing our reliance on fossil fuels, but also in the interim insulating people from market-driven volatility on international wholesale energy markets. In that regard, we in Labour have previously raised with the Minister the prospect of the Government engaging in a temporary nationalisation of the Corrib Gas Field. I renew my call on him and his Government colleagues to give that serious consideration. It does not require any additional legislation. It is a matter that does not need to be dealt with within this legislation because legislation is in place from the 1970s giving Government that power. We believe that temporary nationalisation of the Corrib field should form part of any contingency plan to mitigate supply line disruptions. It would mitigate supply line disruptions by providing a healthy supply, a guarantee of supply and, crucially, allowing for price control. I have spoken previously about the anomaly that gas produced locally in the Corrib gas field is still subject to price determination by reference to international markets. As a result, we see the owners of the field gaining what one might describe as "windfall profits" because, for them, the cost of production has not increased. It has not been affected directly by the war in Ukraine, yet they are benefiting from the international setting of prices in this way.

Of course, we appreciate that the best contingency plan to mitigate supply lines of imported fuel being interrupted is to develop our own indigenous clean energy sources and we believe that much more should be done by Government on that. This Bill, and the context of a war, should not be allowed to distract from the much more pressing need to realise our potential as a world leader in clean energy production. We need in Ireland to rapidly accelerate our efforts towards deployment of onshore wind, offshore wind and solar capacity. The Government has ambitions to do that but we need to see delivery of that. We need to see serious investment in energy efficiency and in the development of renewable capacity. We need to see an expanding interconnection with European energy suppliers and deepening internal market integration. We need to break the hold of the fossil fuel oligarchs and magnates to make Ireland the renewable superpower that the Minister thinks we can, and we all want to, be but we need to see a greater sense of urgency in the delivery of that objective.

Of course, one of the most versatile ways to avoid chaos in the transport sector in the event of an oil crisis is to make more accessible the options of walking, cycling and travelling in electric vehicles or vehicles powered by green hydrogen. We discussed this to some extent earlier in the debate on the climate action plan.

We are all conscious of the embeddedness of oil and other fossil fuels within transport. The Minister pointed out that transport was one of the most difficult sectors in which to achieve reductions in emissions. We know how heavily dependent Ireland is on imported fossil fuels for transport, as well as for energy generation and for heating. They comprise 80% of fossil fuels at present. That is a chilling context within which we have this debate.

Part of the plan to create durable systems to withstand inevitable difficulties with oil supply must involve that key transition to modes of transport not vulnerable to shortages. I welcomed the report this morning of the new EV charging measures to remove or at least reduce so-called "range anxiety" to encourage more people to make the shift from fossil fuel vehicles to electric vehicles. I was glad in that context to read in the climate action plan what was set out as part of the avoid, shift, improve framework. Welcome measures include the setting of a target of a 50% increase in daily active travel journeys and a 130% increase in daily public transport journeys. The improved targets that set percentage shares for low-fossil public and private vehicles, including the goal that 100% of new car registrations should be EVs, are also welcome. We have seen impressive increases in the take-up of EVs but we are still not coming close to the targets set by Government.

Delivery is key on this issue. At local level, every week in my constituency, which is also the Minister's, I hear from constituents who want to make the move to electric vehicles but who do not have a driveway or any accessible charging point they can use to ensure they would be able to use an EV. I reiterate my call for better provision of EV charging, not only on motorway networks as the Minister outlined earlier but also for charging on streets where houses do not have driveways or where there are apartment blocks. At present these people do not have access to any public or private charging point. The lack of such charging points is preventing people from making the necessary move to EVs. It would be positive to see greater movement on it this year.

I have engaged closely with Dublin City Council on this and I am constantly told that new strategies are being rolled out. Again, we are just not seeing delivery. In the Portobello area, there is one public charging point and it is always in use. This is the area where I live. No house has a driveway. Many people in this area who need cars want to make a move to electric vehicles. They are prevented, or at least discouraged, from doing so because of the lack of charging facilities.

There are lofty public transport goals in the climate action plan, including progress on continuing the programmes of work; advancing BusConnects in five cities; MetroLink; DART+; the Cork area commuter rail programme; PSO electric bus fleet procurement, including depot charging upgrades; and investment in passenger freight rail. These are flagship infrastructure projects. The Labour Party is glad progress is being made on these. We emphasise the potential for climate action and the transport revolution to raise standards of living in Ireland by creating new well-paid unionised jobs in these sectors, thus providing for the all-important just transition we speak about as a party of the left and the party of the trade union movement.

We reiterate our call for a widening of access to public transport and the introduction of a €9 climate ticket to incentivise greater use of public transport in towns and cities in all our communities. We believe this initiative should have been undertaken by the Government in the budget to encourage greater usage of public transport and to address the cost-of-living crisis by reducing public transport fares and transport costs from many families and households.

Other smaller changes are required to support all of those who wish to make the shift to public transport. In our constituency, Labour Party Councillors, Dermot Lacey, Kevin Donoghue and, in particular, Mary Freehill, have been working on small but significant ways to make public transport more accessible. Councillor Mary Freehill has done work with the age-friendly working group in the Kimmage and Rathmines area, for example, seeking to make bus stops more accessible. Many bus stops in Dublin lack seating. It may sound like a small thing but when I raise this at meetings with local residents I find it is something that older people in the community in particular find a real hindrance to using buses. There is a simple bus pole and often there is no shelter or no seating. This can be a disincentive for people who want to use public transport but, as they have mobility issues, are put off by the prospect of having to stand for long periods at a bus stop. For those who find it difficult to avail of such facilities for reason of age or disability, it is a disincentive to using buses.

Councillor Freehill, having investigated the matter, learned the primary obstacle to the NTA installing seating at bus stops, which was the simple request she made, is a refusal by users of the advertising panels at bus stops to cede space. The company that runs the advertising believes that putting in seating, even where there are panels and the facility to do so, would diminish the scope for advertising. In addition to electronic advertisements being a problematic addition to the public landscape, the fact they would take precedence over access for ordinary citizens shows the need for a readjustment of priorities. I appeal to the Minister to address this point.

As a cyclist it would be remiss of me to omit from my contribution the awesome power of cycling as a tool in the fight against energy insecurity and climate change. I am glad some promising bicycle infrastructure programmes are starting to come onstream. It is promising, for example, to see Dublin City Council rolling out such an extensive network of cycle lanes across the city. That is welcome and long overdue. We in the Labour Party have long called for the extension of the cycle to work tax scheme to allow parents to purchase bikes for their children. We call it a bike to school scheme. We have costed it at €1.4 million. We believe it would have a significant impact in encouraging the uptake of cycling among children and younger people.

The problem is the current tax scheme does not support those out of work or those who are self-employed to purchase a bike nor does it offer supports for parents to buy bikes for their children. We would allocate additional funding through the social welfare allowance additional needs payment to provide grants of up to €250 to support those who want to buy a bike but who are not covered by the cycle to work scheme at present.

Alongside this we are calling for the Government to carry out a comprehensive review of how the tax system could be better used to incentivise the uptake of cycling, e-bikes and cargo bikes by homes and businesses. The cycle to work scheme has been a huge success but it is about how we can expand the take-up. This is the question. I hope the Minister will take these suggestions on board in the spirit of constructive engagement.

As we are discussing the volatility of the energy market and the effects of external factors, in particular, the war in Ukraine, I want to express my sympathy to those killed this morning in the attack near Kyiv. It is another appalling loss of life. We have seen so much loss of life since Vladimir Putin commenced his brutal invasion, which is an affront to our values of democracy, justice and respect for life. While it is our friends in Ukraine and neighbouring countries who are suffering the worst consequences of Putin's awful invasion, it is also a reminder of how vulnerable our way of life is to the whims of despots and warmongers.

When we debate Bills such as this it bears repeating why we are debating them and what the context is. Climate change and conflict around the world are strongly interlinked. The protection of our fuel systems and the protection of fuel and energy security in Ireland is closely related to the protection of our peace and democratic values. None of this should be taken for granted. Part of our resistance to dictators such as Putin must involve showing that we are serious about building our resilience so that not only Ireland but all European countries and all democratic countries will not be held to ransom by those who seek to meddle or interfere with our energy supply, or to interfere at a much more substantial level with our country and our way of life, as we have seen in Ukraine.

I look forward to further engaging with the Minister and the Department on the Bill. I reiterate that the context in which we are debating the Bill is one that none of us could have envisaged a year ago. We all thought it would not happen and now we are 11 months into a brutal war. Of course it is raising all of these questions about fuel security and, more fundamentally, about the security of all of our countries and peace in Europe. It is in this serious and depressing context that we debate the legislation. The Labour Party will support it because we recognise the need for it. Without wanting to raise any panic it is important that contingencies should be made. We appeal to the Minister to consider other contingencies, such as the nationalisation of Corrib and, of course, the important climate action plan measures on transport and so many other ways in which we can reduce our reliance on fossil fuels.

Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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I am glad to support the Bill. The merits of the Bill speak for themselves and it should be roundly supported in the House. I want to make a number of points. A new strategy paper is to be published later this month on offshore wind. I hear there will be segregation between anchored east coast offshore wind turbines versus their floating counterparts off the Atlantic coastline. This is understandable. They are two very different pieces of infrastructure. With regard to their progression through the regulatory system, MARA and the planning regime, I hear the anchored turbines will be fast tracked while the floating turbines will be slowed down. This would be a retrograde step because we have incredible potential off the Atlantic coastline. Many diplomatic staff from other countries have been wearing a path to Leinster House lauding how incredible this would be in meeting energy targets for the European Union and for greening the Irish economy. The potential it has is incredible. At present, wind projects offshore in the Atlantic worth €78 billion are in the pipeline.

Behind some of those projects are some massive, global, heavy-hitting companies. If we are going to have them sit back a little while the east coast progresses, it would be a retrograde step and would send out the wrong signals. There is a worry that the companies, along with the investment, would move to and set up in another windy part of Europe. We must seize this opportunity and not have a two-tier system. If there is a project that can progress, let it progress. The Minister should not take a two-tier approach to this.

I refer to the issue of offshore wind and how equipped our Irish ports are to meet the infrastructure needs of those project. I recently attended a meeting in Leinster House where I discovered we are not that well equipped at all in our port system for developing and bringing onto site the infrastructure required for offshore wind. Other European nations had not only an offshore strategy but an onshore strategy to ensure they could build the best quality equipment and infrastructure and to tow it into place. The worry is that if we do not quickly get to that pace in Ireland, our offshore turbines will be constructed in Rotterdam, Bremen and Hamburg, and they will tow them onto site.

There are two phases to this, both of which are equally lucrative. Phase 2 is generating this huge volume of offshore wind energy, using it domestically and selling it to our counterparts in continental Europe, which is very lucrative. However, phase 1 is the economy around building an offshore network of wind energy and I do not know whether we are moving at the pace to provide that. It would be a shame to see other European countries rush in to build the infrastructure when we probably would have the ability to do so if we had a strategy to pull these last few elements together.

With regard to renewable energy, we have an exciting project in Shannon, which the Minister is supportive of. The old fuel farms that were developed adjacent to Shannon Airport in the 1970s will hopefully be converted into hydrogen storage hubs soon. All the wind energy generated off the west coast of County Clare, brought ashore at Moneypoint, will be transferred to a hydrogen storage facility at Shannon, the potential of which is incredible. We need to push that out a little bit further because, using leaving certificate science, if nitrogen is added to hydrogen, one ends up with ammonia, which is a far more stable fuel to export, put into tankers and bring all over the world. An Oireachtas joint committee, of which I am a member, recently travelled to the Netherlands to look at where they were at in respect of sustainable travel and renewables, etc. It is not just hydrogen; they also have an ammonia strategy. This is how it will be brought around internationally as a more stable fuel that can be exported. I would love to see an additional layer put on top of those plans, at Moneypoint and Shannon, to ensure not just the production of raw hydrogen but that we have an exportable, stable and safe ammonia fuel that can be brought around.

Several Deputies mentioned public transport, of which the Minister is a great advocate. I travelled to the Dáil on the train this morning, which I do as often as I can. It is a fantastic way to travel, but it takes an inordinate time and a lot of expense to construct a rail system. Someone recently told me that five buses equal one train. A bus can be provided quickly. It does not have to follow a linear route of railway lines set down in the 1800s, or lines that are soon to be built at an extraordinary cost. Buses are a quick and cheaper way of getting the tentacles of public transport into the smallest rural communities and the most densely developed urban communities. Buses need to feature more in our strategy.

I would like to comment on the wind energy guidelines, which I mentioned earlier in the Chamber today. They are grossly outdated. They date back to 2008. They were being overhauled in 2019, a draft version of which was brought before the Houses of the Oireachtas in December 2019. Along came the general election in January 2020 and Covid immediately afterwards. A series of events have caught up with us and we find ourselves three years out from when they were to be agreed, but that is not so important. It is 15 years since these guidelines were formulated. They are outdated. They are outdated to a person who wants to develop wind energy, and they are equally outdated to a community that feels there has been a proliferation of wind turbines around them and does not have sufficient protection. They are outdated on many fronts. If the guidelines were to see the light of day now, they would probably no longer relate to the level at which technology is now because they were formulated in 2019. This is not good enough. We have heard time and again that they are ready to go. They need to be agreed. I once heard they were on the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien's, desk. I believe they could now be on the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan's, desk. When he is wrapping up, I would love to know where these guidelines are at and when do we hope to implement them.

Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill. It is long overdue and it requires the Minister to conduct oil emergency planning and obliges oil companies to co-operate with the Department and public bodies in the creation of such a plan. It will establish a centralised register of oil companies, both retail and wholesale, and give extra powers to the Minister for Transport relating to the renewable transport fuel obligation scheme and a biofuel levy under the National Oil Reserves Agency Act. This will allow the Minister to specify the level of ethanol in petrol. It would also provide for a number of certificates that can be awarded for certain renewable transport fuels to incentivise their supply.

We in Sinn Féin support the Bill in principle but we have reservations about the extent of powers being given to the Minister for Transport. There must be sufficient accountability to the Oireachtas. Other colleagues have said we will table amendments to the Bill. The powers being given to the Minister are significant. We are in extraordinary times due to the war in Ukraine with the effect this has had on fuel supply. It is important these powers be kept under review. The public is well aware of the Government's failure to adequately respond to the cost-of-living crisis, particularly in respect of the cost of fuel. We saw last year that the Government was slow to react to the struggles of ordinary workers and families. Sinn Féin argued, throughout the crisis, that taxes charged by the Government at the pump should be reduced to the greatest extent permissible. In our alternative budget, we proposed excise duty changes that would have reduced the cost of 1,000 l of oil by €118.

Years of mismanagement by the Government and its failure to adequately manage our energy system have left us in a position where we are far too dependent on liquid fuel. If the Government had prepared better, delivered more renewable energy over the past decade, we would not be so exposed. If the Government had supported more families to transition from kerosene for home heating oil, we would not be in this position. If the Government had gone the extra mile - no pun intended - to support the transition away from petrol and diesel cars, we would not face this problem. If the Government had delivered gas storage, which has been recommended for years in the energy security review, we would not be here today trying to close the gate after the horse has bolted. The Government's record is one of failure both in addressing the energy security crisis and the climate crisis that we are now facing because of it. It is time to call an election so that Sinn Féin can deliver real change rather than the constant firefighting that is going on across this Chamber floor.

Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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I welcome the opportunity to discuss the Bill. It speaks to a real concern many people have about the State's ability to ensure we have a secure supply of fuel not just for the coming winter and spring of 2023 but into the future as well. Since the outbreak of war in Ukraine, fuel prices and supply chains have been heavily impacted. Many people are living that reality. It is good to see this kind of measure being given time in the Dáil. I share the concerns of others about how we are seeing many emergency measures coming into play with limited consultation and discussion. We are a year into this crisis and I am surprised that we continue to see emergency Bills and measures being put in place.

The Bill seeks to address several areas, including providing more clarity on the powers of the Minister and how quickly they can be deployed to control the supply and distribution of fuel in an emergency; putting all aspects of oil emergency planning on a statutory footing; establishing a register of oil suppliers to ensure fast communication to retailers; allowing Revenue to share data on oil movements to enhance responsiveness of the State in an emergency; and the transfer of functions from the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications to the Department of Transport regarding renewable transport fuels. When I resume my contribution tomorrow, I will raise the transfer in particular and whether the Minister of the Environment, Climate and Communications will continue to have any oversight of or be able to view those decisions if this area is completely transferred to the Minister for Transport.

I note the Minister, when speaking about the Bill recently, said it was part of a suite of initiatives being deployed by his Department to ensure the security of Ireland's energy supply in the near future.

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I am interested in hearing what further upcoming measures, if any, the Minister will bring forward in the near future with regard to that.

The Minister also stated the long-term priority is to insulate consumers from volatility on the international wholesale markets by investing in energy efficiency and renewable energy, expanding interconnection with European markets and deepening Internal Market integration. I will focus on that issue tomorrow and on how we can ensure that not just businesses and the State, but communities, individuals and homes can become as energy resilient as possible in order that these kinds of initiatives become less important or necessary.