Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 3:

In page 8, between lines 37 and 38, to insert the following: “(4) The majority-shareholding Minister shall, on a bi-annual basis, lay before both Houses of the Oireachtas any shareholder letters of expectation issued in respect of Gas Networks Ireland.”.

The amendment follows on from our concerns about the Minister for Finance being the majority-shareholding Minister of GNI. It relates to a broader concern with regard to how shareholder letters of expectation have been used in respect of semi-State commercial bodies. The shareholder letter of expectation that issued to Coillte in 2022, for example, states that the company should be profitable and cash-generative, and there is at a later point merely a reference to balancing the commercial obligations with climate action. It beggars belief that, in the middle of climate and biodiversity crises, such a narrow commercial model is being applied to an organisation with responsibility for 7% of the land in this State.

Parliamentary questions seeking to get copies of the shareholder letters that issued to Bord na Móna have been refused by the Minister's Department. Senator Higgins's office had to request those shareholder letters under access to access to information on the environment, AIE, regulations and is awaiting a response. She cannot be here at present but she has her own nature Bill, which is ready to proceed to Committee Stage, to address this issue in respect of both Coillte and Bord na Móna. Critically, we need to know what expectations are being placed on Gas Networks Ireland in order for there to be some accountability in the Oireachtas in this respect. As I said, it was stated in GNI's gas forecast statement of 2022 that it believed data centres connected to the gas network could meet the principles set out in the Government's data policy document through the increased use of biomethane and hydrogen and it was assessing the statement's impacts and consulting the Government.

As the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications has accepted that GNI is at odds with the climate Act, I do not see why there would be an issue with publishing the shareholder letters and any expectations on the semi-State body for full transparency in order that we can ensure those commercial semi-State bodies are being asked to uphold their climate obligations, as opposed to what we have seen with Coillte, the only case we have seen, whereby it is to have a narrow economic and commercial basis. I do not see how there can be an issue with the publication of these shareholder letters. In public, Ministers speak about the importance of climate action and pose for photos at the launch of pilot projects, but in private they tell these organisations they can effectively carry on business as usual.

The Minister of State should make available to Senators, prior to Report Stage, the letters of expectation that have been sent to Gas Networks Ireland to reassure us Gas Networks Ireland has been instructed very clearly that it does not get a bye ball when it comes to climate action. If he is prepared to give that commitment that we will get those letters of expectation before Report Stage, we could withdraw the amendment but if not, we will press it.