Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail)

I have often raised the issue of the gas terminal at Ballylongford on the mouth of the Shannon in north Kerry. This project will create 500 jobs per year for four years. It has gone through the planning process. That was an interminably slow process, which made a complete mockery of the so-called fast track process. We are now being held up again over relatively minor quibbles, and I am very frustrated at how this is being managed. We are crying out for jobs and a new gas terminal and power station three miles away in Tarbert will create a further 500 jobs. The Minister is quite concerned about it at this stage, but I have not seen a hands on approach by the Government to bring this project across the line.

I call on the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources to brief us on this important project. It is not a parochial issue. It will ensure energy security for the entire mid-west region for our lifetime. It is clean and safe. It is not renewable, but perhaps our Green Party colleagues have put too much focus on renewables. This is important. It represents jobs and the future. I ask the Leader to make a serious effort to get the Minister to come in here and answer questions about this important project.