Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I, too, welcome the Minister and wish him a speedy recovery.

This is a subject on which I have spoken on many occasions in recent years. It is timely that I raise it again today. The Minister stated at the energy security conference just this week that the question of importing liquefied natural gas to the island and the role of natural gas storage would be under consideration by his Department. I warmly welcome that statement. The Minister is to be commended for organising such an important energy conference at this time, especially in light of the very real threat to our future energy security posed by Brexit. We are almost totally dependent on the United Kingdom for our gas supply. Over 90% of our supply in 2015 was from the United Kingdom. Even with Corrib gas coming on stream, it is estimated we will have a dependency rate of 85% by 2025. Bearing in mind that we have a reserve capacity of only 5%, Ireland is clearly disadvantaged. This must be very worrying, as the Minister recognised in his statement. The Oxford Institute for Energy Studies reached the same conclusion in its January report. I referred to that last Thursday, fortuitously anticipating the Minister. I drew attention to the report.

It is most fortunate, therefore, that we currently have in place the Shannon LNG project in north Kerry. This was first announced by Deputy Micheál Martin when he was Minister responsible for industry, almost ten years ago. It has advanced very significantly in the intervening years. Strategic planning approval was obtained in April 2008. Pipeline construction approval was granted in May 2009, and foreshore leases and licences were obtained in December 2010. At that stage, the project was "ready to bid", as goes the expression. I happened to be Mayor of Kerry and a director of Shannon Foynes Port Company when the project was initiated. It is quite remarkable that such a valuable project has taken so long to come to fruition.

To date, approximately €67 million has been spent on this project, including on engineering, site investigation, lease costs, pipeline rights of way and land acquisition. The project hit a wall in 2012 when the energy regulator created new tariffing arrangements that had serious implications for a commercial LNG terminal. These new arrangements would compel any new entrant to the energy market to contribute millions of euro annually to the interconnector network whether or not it required access to the interconnector. Shannon LNG most certainly does not require such access.Shannon LNG, in simple terms, is a self-standing buy and sell operation. It should never have been penalised in this way. I do not think the EU ever envisaged such penalties obtaining in this case. As the Minister knows, there is a clear and present danger posed by Brexit to our energy security. It is stated that Ireland is a special case within the EU because of our close dependence on the UK for so many aspects of our economy, not least energy. As a result of that, if the EU is serious about assisting us through Brexit, this is one litmus test of its commitment. Many aspects of the regulator's decisions must be reviewed urgently. These regulations are going to have to be reassessed.

The Government will have to be more hands-on regarding the Kerry project, taking equity in it if necessary. Shannon LNG, which has been long anticipated in an area in which is devastated by unemployment and emigration, will finally become a reality. If the Shannon LNG project did not exist, the Government would have to invent it for itself. Clearly, much of the heavy lifting has been done and the operation is by a private company with full back-up and full support from all the State agencies, the harbour, the local authority and, most importantly, the community of north Kerry, which has embraced this and has such high hopes for it. I hope the Minister will be able to give a favourable response to my presentation and move this project forward.