Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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8. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if his Department has carried out, commissioned, or consulted on any research into the likely climate impact of US LNG imported into Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17929/25]

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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25. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his views on whether a commercial LNG facility along the lines of Shannon LNG is compatible with the State’s legally binding greenhouse gas emission reduction commitments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17927/25]

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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I asked the Minister previously if he was aware of the emissions impact that US LNG would have here, which is estimated to be at least 33% worse than coal. He initially ignored the question and then waffled on about it depending on various factors. I am asking again, more precisely, what research his Department has carried out, whether commissioned or consulted, into the likely climate impact of imported US LNG.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 8 and 25 together.

We have had a good discussion on LNG already, because we have been here since 10.23 a.m., but I thank the Deputy for his question.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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I was at a Dáil Business Committee meeting.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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Well done, that is great. I hope the Deputy was working with colleagues in a constructive manner this morning, as one would expect.

I thank the Deputy for the question. I know he has a certain view on this. I mentioned to colleagues earlier that we could not ignore the advice we have received with regard to our own energy security, and the FSRU is absolutely needed. I am going to be publishing the CEPA analysis in the coming weeks. I have made an offer to Deputies Daly, Whitmore, Heneghan and anyone else who is interested and wants to look at the independent analysis around this. I will be publishing it and I have also offered to hold a briefing for Members.

We are committed to our climate targets. I want to be very clear on that, but also within our climate action plan is energy stability and security. The decision on the FSRU is absolutely consistent with our climate action plan and, by the way, with our EU obligations. Our commitment to Ireland's electricity generation from renewable sources is absolutely firm. We want to accelerate the delivery of that, and it is through delivery on this commitment that a secure and sustainable energy future will be delivered. As the Deputy knows, I recently received Government approval for the State-led, State-owned, State-managed strategic gas emergency reserve. That delivery of a temporary gas reserve is critical to our energy security as we continue the transition to indigenous clean renewable energy. Crucially, the strategic gas emergency reserve will also ensure compliance with EU standards and regulation. That emergency reserve will be in the form of the FSRU, to be owned by the State through our system operator, Gas Networks Ireland with an approach similar to that in respect of the National Oil Reserves Agency.

In identifying this as the optimal approach, my Department has built upon an extensive review of security of Ireland’s gas and electricity systems which was approved by Government in the Energy Security in Ireland to 2030 plan published in November 2023. I am sure that is available to the Deputy as well. This plan includes a range of external reviews and analyses that considered all potential options and impacts from a security and sustainability perspective. The energy security package set out Ireland’s ambition to transform our energy system and support our climate objectives. The plan includes 28 actions under the pillars of sustainability, affordability and security. Under action 17 of that plan, GNI was tasked with reviewing and recommending the optimal approach. The extensive body of work that culminated in the publication of the energy security package has been complemented by the GNI report. A number of emergency exercises were carried out, and an updated projection regarding the compliance with EU N-1 infrastructure standard taking into account the most up-to-date data. The strategic gas emergency reserve is a transitional measure that supports a secure transition of our energy system, and the policy decision taken by Government ensures that the risk of stranded fossil fuel assets is reduced. The reserve will be used for emergency only and does not support increased gas demand.

The strategic gas reserve is not intended for commercial use. The liquified natural gas will be held in reserve for use in the event of a significant disruption to gas supplies and will be divested when no longer required to secure our energy systems. The policy decision ensures the risk of stranded fossil fuel assets is reduced. As I said, the reserve will be used for emergency use. The source of the LNG supply for the reserve has yet to be determined. The operation of the strategic gas emergency reserve will be underpinned by policy and legislation that my Department is progressing as a matter of priority.

David Maxwell (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I wish to inform the House that Questions Nos. 8 and 25 are grouped, so there is no confusion.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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The Minister has a very simple question in front of him. For the benefit of anyone watching these proceedings from outside the House, he receives the question in advance and his civil servants write an answer. The question asked whether the Minister and the Department have carried out, commissioned or consulted any research into the likely climate impact of US energy imported into Ireland. The Minister did not answer that question at all. I can only assume, therefore, that the answer is "No", and that the Minister is planning to import a lot of US LNG fracked gas into Ireland without even considering the climate impact. There is a peer-reviewed paper by Professor Robert Howarth which makes the case very convincingly that it is at least 33% worse than coal. The reason for that is that methane, rather than carbon dioxide, makes up the majority of LNG emissions, and methane is 80 times more damaging to the climate over a 20-year period, which is the crucial timeframe for avoiding catastrophic climate collapse.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy has a bit of a fixation on this. I have talked about-----

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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I do.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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Yes, you do. The reality of it is that I cannot ignore the risks the State has with regard to our energy supply. It would be dereliction of my duty as Minister on behalf of our citizens if I ignored the independent advice I have with regard to the risk to our society, economy and country should there be a disruption to our gas supply.

I said this earlier, but I appreciate that the Deputy was at the Business Committee. I told colleagues that the legal advice that was received by my predecessor in this regard was very clear that a distinction could not be made in respect of the type of gas that would be imported through LNG. No one is saying, by the way, that this is US imported gas. Deputy Murphy is saying that. That has not even been determined. The procurement-----

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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The message-----

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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It has not. It suits the Deputy's narrative-----

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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Come on.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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-----that he goes out and starts telling people we are buying fracked gas from the United States. That is not the question at all, but it suits the Deputy's narrative that he will be able to stoke up anger in this regard. We are doing pretty well as a country with regard to our transition to green energy. On an average day, approximately 33% of our energy is generated through renewables. We need to do a lot better, and we are going to accelerate that. That means things like the Planning and Development Act we passed last year to help us accelerate the delivery of renewables, an Act, by the way, the Deputy opposed. He also opposed the marine planning Act, which was incredible. We did not have a planning architecture for our maritime area, and, to try to streamline that, we created and established the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority, MARA. Again, the Deputy and others in the Opposition actually opposed it. I cannot understand their reasons-----

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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The Minister would have to read them first.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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-----for opposing it. I brought the Bill forward. On one hand, some Deputies opposite will say they want a green transition and to move towards renewables - we are doing that - but when we bring forward any legislation that actually assists in doing that, they oppose it just because it is the Government that brings forward the legislation,.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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Yes, I have a fixation on climate change.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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No, you do not.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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Climate change is going to destroy the lives of our children.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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You are twisting-----

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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It is going to make----

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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You are twisting what I said again.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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-----the earth effectively largely uninhabitable for all but the richest. That is the trajectory we are on. I have a fixation on climate change, absolutely.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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That is not what I said.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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The Minister should have a fixation on climate change.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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You are twisting it now.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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You should-----

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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That is not what I said.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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Well, what do I have a fixation on?

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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Carry on and I will respond.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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What do I have a fixation on? If it was not climate change, what do I have a fixation on?

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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Read the record. I will come back in on a supplementary comment.

David Maxwell (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Deputies, please.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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So-----

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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Read the record. I did not say that.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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I have a fixation on climate change, and if the Minister's point is that I have a fixation on fossil fuels, yes, I do, because fossil fuels are what is driving the vast majority of climate change. He is proposing, as Minister for the environment, who has responsibility for climate action, to import the dirtiest fossil fuel possible. That is what he is proposing. He is saying now to not worry. He is not saying it is not going to be US fracked gas because he is correctly saying we cannot draw a distinction, which the previous Government tried to mislead people about by saying we could have LNG and to not worry because it would not be fracked gas. The Minister is admitting it could well be fracked gas, but he is not able to tell me that it is not going to be US fracked gas. I ask him to say on the record that this will not be US fracked gas. He knows that of course it is going to be US fracked gas. What else is it going to be? Incredibly, by not answering the question the Minister is telling me he has not conducted any studies in this regard. The Howarth paper was a key factor in the Biden Administration's decision to bring in a moratorium on new US LNG export facilities in January 2024. That was reversed by Trump, who is a climate denier. In changing the policy here to allow US fracked gas imports, the Government is aligning itself with Trump and climate denial.

The Minister needs to deal with the reality of the science of what the impact of fracked gas is. This is the dirtiest fossil fuel possible and the Minister has not commissioned any research or any evidence to suggest that is not the case. He thinks it is fine, and that we are going to run through this five or six times per year in our so-called strategic reserve that is going to displace even other gas as the dirtiest fossil fuel.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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No, it is not. What I accused the Deputy of was being fixated with LNG and with a floating strategic gas reserve that we actually need. It has been very clearly set out that the fact that we do not have a strategic gas reserve is a risk to our society, our country and our energy stability. I did not mention climate in my response to the Deputy at the start or accuse him of being fixated with climate change. I am; I am the Minister responsible for climate. I am the Minister responsible for ensuring we increase our renewables and unlock the potential we have around our coasts for the delivery of offshore renewables.

I will state for the benefit of those watching the Deputy's track record on climate matters. He did not support the climate Act. He does not support the carbon tax. He does not support any of the measures that have been-----

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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I did support the climate Act. The Government is not implementing it.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy does not support any of the measures we have brought forward, such as the marine planning Act, the planning Act or anything like that.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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Will the Minister correct the record in respect of the climate Act?

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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Everything from his side is purely oppositional for the sake of opposition. There is a serious global climate crisis. We are all aware of that and should be working together to accelerate the delivery of renewables. Gas demand will not start to decrease until approximately 2035. It will be a transitionary fuel. As I said to Deputies in response to earlier questions, we should compare the situation with where we have come from. There is now no peat in our energy system. From June, there will be no coal in our energy system. We are accelerating the delivery of onshore renewables. We want to see more wind and solar onshore and substantially more renewables offshore. We will have a real opportunity in the years to the end of this decade to make a significant step change in that regard. We are going to be investing heavily in our grid through price review 6, which will be coming to Government shortly. It will be the most substantial investment in our electricity grid in decades, if not ever, to bring onshore the offshore renewables that we will develop over the coming few years.