Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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148. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his views on the fact that the Commission for Regulation of Utilities has not carried out a risk assessment or an analysis of Ireland’s financial exposure under the provisions of the Energy Charter Treaty in its regulation of new gas fired power plants [12724/22]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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In 2017, the Energy Charter Conference decided to modernise the treaty in order to respond to the demands of member countries that consider it outdated with regard to current investment agreements. EU governments and the European Commission are negotiating an update to the ECT’s terms, but the negotiations to date have been slow and complex amid difficulties finding common agreement among the charter’s members.

The Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) is an independent regulator, accountable to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action. It is up to the CRU to decide their investment risk analysis methodology as I have no role in their decision making process.

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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149. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the progress of the Energy Charter Treaty modernisation process; and if there is no progress on its modernisation his views on the timeframe by which he will pursue exit from the treaty [12725/22]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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In 2017, the Energy Charter Conference decided to modernise the treaty in order to respond to the demands of member countries that find it obsolete with regard to current investment agreements. EU governments and the European Commission are negotiating an update to the ECT’s terms, but the talks have been slow and complex amid difficulties finding common agreement among the charter’s members.

In September 2021, the Court of Justice of the European Union held that EU climate polluters could not use the arbitration system under the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) to claim compensation in disputes between member states.

Ireland's position remains to support the European Commission's efforts to negotiate meaningful reform of the treaty in the first instance, while reserving the option to support a co-ordinated withdrawal should these efforts fail and if considered appropriate by Government to achieve our national renewable energy and climate ambitions.

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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150. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the extent to which indigenous gas production from the Corrib gas field is supporting the State’s gas demand: the way that the security of gas supply has been protected; the State’s dependency on imported gas supply from the UK up to 2030 following the banning future gas exploration; if Ireland will return to a pre-Corrib levels of import dependency; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12889/22]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The Programme for Government contains a commitment to end the issuing of new licences for the exploration and extraction of natural gas on the same basis as the decision taken by the previous Government in relation to oil exploration and extraction. This commitment has been implemented by my Department and has been given statutory effect through the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021. Ireland sources roughly one-quarter of its gas from the Corrib gas field, and three-quarters via interconnector from the UK, which has diverse sources of supply. Both the UK and Ireland both have far less reliance on Russian gas than other European Countries. The UK’s gas supply comes from indigenous supplies, via pipelines from Norway, interconnectors with Belgium and the Netherlands and through imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG). 

As production from the Corrib gas field declines, our import dependence on natural gas from the UK will increase in the near term. 

In light of the Ukraine crisis, the European Commission is working closely with Member States to protect the resilience of Europe’s gas supply. The Commission is also actively engaging with other countries to ensure sufficient and timely supply of natural gas to the EU from diverse sources across the globe to avoid supply shocks, including those that could result from disruptions.  

It is essential that we cut our dependence on imported fossil fuels, and power comes from our own indigenous renewable resources including wind and solar. Climate Action Plan 2021 sets an ambitious target to increase the share of electricity demand generated from renewables sources to up-to 80% by 2030.  

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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151. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the extent to which it is more expensive to import natural gas into Ireland than utilising indigenous gas resources; and the annual energy and fuel import bill from the UK gas system. [12890/22]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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Ireland sources around one-quarter of its gas from the Corrib Gas field, and three-quarters via the UK, which has diverse sources of supply. The price which energy suppliers pay for natural gas on the market is a commercial transaction. Energy Suppliers must also pay a regulated price to the Transmission System Operator for the transportation of gas through the gas transmission network, which in Ireland is regulated by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU), Ireland’s independent utility regulator. Gas imported from both Great Britain and Corrib is subject to costs for transporting the gas through the transmission network. The Minister has no function in relation to the setting of these prices.

The Programme for Government contains a commitment to end the issuing of new licences for the exploration and extraction of natural gas on the same basis as the decision taken by the previous government in relation to oil exploration and extraction. This commitment has been implemented by my Department and has been given statutory effect through the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021.