Mr. Seán Kelly:

I have said already I agree 100% with Senator O'Sullivan. I do so from a practical point of view. As I said, I have led, in many respects, the whole drive for renewables in Europe and to decarbonise our economy but gas is the best by far of the transition fuels. We are hearing an awful lot about LNG. It is coming from all over the world. The alternative is to depend for power on Russia, which is madness at this stage. Only yesterday the German Chancellor cancelled Nord Stream 2. It was the right thing to do but it means less gas. What are we going to do? Should we turn the lights off and wait for the renewables to occur? That is the practical alternative and is something that does not make sense.

As Senator O'Sullivan said, 99% of people in north Kerry want this. Are they all against climate change? No, they are not. However, if one goes down to the Shannon Estuary and looks at what is down there, one will see a massive trawler full of coal that has come from Russia to keep the lights on by having Moneypoint running on coal. That is the alternative. Does one want gas or coal? That is the essential aspect. I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach.