Sharon Keogan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I, too, welcome the Minister of State.

Next September, An Bord Pleanála is due to make a decision on the planning application submitted by Shannon LNG Limited for a proposed liquefied natural gas terminal on the Tarbert-Ballylongford land bank. The company behind the proposed plant has stated that the Shannon LNG terminal could be built in 12 months, and could even be built to accommodate a gradual transition to green hydrogen production in the future, thus aid Ireland in reaching its climate targets as well as bolster our energy security. Indeed, a spokesperson for the Tánaiste said earlier this month that he is particularly keen to assess the proposed plant's capabilities with regard to green hydrogen production and that he believes there is real potential for this in the Shannon Estuary.The Minister, Deputy Ryan, also spoke in favour of green hydrogen when the House debated my motion on energy back in May. The question was asked whether Shannon Estuary would be used for green hydrogen and, if not, whether it would be used for green fossil fuels. What if it could do both? During the debate in May, when speaking about hydrogen, the Minister spoke about liquefied natural gas in the medium term and hydrogen in the long term. He said that is where the investment will be in ten years' time. What of those ten years, however? Are families to accept that energy prices will continue to climb while scientists and engineers work to make hydrogen economically viable and attractive to investors or should we take up an offer to increase the national supply of electricity with a new plant that could green itself over its lifetime?

Obviously, we await the decision of An Bord Pleanála and, in addition, the programme for Government explicitly states that the project does not have the support of the Government, which had it withdrawn from the EU list of projects of common interest last year. This month, the Taoiseach said that the concept of a terminal which could transition to hydrogen production was interesting but that, given the time it would take to construct the terminal, it would not solve the current energy crisis.

However, I am not sure that anyone is positing that such a terminal could be a total fix. Rather, it could be a useful measure to help in building up the country's energy security and lowering the cost of living. What kind of approach is it to refuse a partial solution or a step towards one in favour of waiting until a perfect one comes along and to fail to implement successive suggestions over the course of months and years and, when people point out that the problem persists, to respond with, "Oh well, it is very complicated. We cannot possibly fix it overnight. There is no silver bullet here."? There will never be a silver bullet for energy, housing, economic downturns or for viruses. We need to take what help we can get to make things better for the people on the ground.

There is a reason that climate activism is a priority solely for the first world. Basic needs must be met first, in the here and now, before people can have the luxury of engaging in it. I guarantee that, if we polled the people of Ireland and asked if they preferred slashed energy bills or meeting climate targets, we would see the truth of that statement. It might not be the fault of the Government that this energy crisis happened and that it did not see it coming but fault will lie with the Government if it fails to react to it. A hybrid LNG-hydrogen terminal at the Shannon Estuary might be just the reaction we need. I ask the Government to consider its position on the plan in this light. It would benefit us in the medium and long term.