Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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66. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the steps he will take to address the legal weaknesses of the Government "moratorium" on liquefied natural gas infrastructure exposed by a recent High Court judgement (details supplied). [41402/24]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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As set out in the Government’s ‘Policy Statement on the Importation of Fracked Gas' the government does not support the importation of fracked gas. Ireland is committed to halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and becoming carbon neutral by 2050. In future, most of our energy needs will be met by renewable energy which will be the anchor of our energy security.

The sole consideration by this Government of Liquified Natural Gas facilities is in the context of energy security. The Government does not support the commercial import of LNG as the development of infrastructure for the commercial import of LNG would be inconsistent with the decarbonisation trajectory established under the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act, as amended.

The Government policy in relation to energy security is set out in 'Energy Security in Ireland to 2030' report which was approved and published in November 2023. The report determines that Ireland’s natural gas supplies and infrastructure are adequate to meet our demand projections. However, Ireland does not have adequate resilience in case of a major disruption to our sub-sea gas imports pipelines and does not currently meet minimum EU standards in this area.

It is in this context only that a state-led Liquified Gas Facility was recommended in the Report.

A state-led strategic gas emergency reserve, operating on a non-commercial basis for use only in the event of an emergency, would provide resilience to the gas system and mitigate against the major consequences for our society and our economy that would arise from a significant gas supply disruption in Ireland.

As a final element of the energy security review, Gas Networks Ireland are undertaking a detailed analysis of the strategic gas emergency reserve.

In parallel my Department are developing the appropriate policy and legislative measures to ensure the facility provides the resilience to our energy system in a manner that:

• does not inadvertently increase gas demand by increasing the supply available on the market;
• is compatible with the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act and
• does not support the Importation of Fracked Gas (www.gov.ie/pdf/?file=)

Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael)
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68. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment to provide an update on his Department's efforts in relation to projects under REPowerEU funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41455/24]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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In response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the European Commission published the REPowerEU plan in May 2022 to end or reduce the reliance on Russian fossil fuels in EU member states by 2030.

The REPowerEU plan constitutes a dedicated chapter in Ireland’s Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP), and reforms made in line with the criteria set out in the REPowerEU Plan are set out in this chapter.

Multiple Departments across government contributed to the drafting of the REPowerEU chapter, with input from my Department on environmental, decarbonisation and reduction of reliance on fossil fuels reforms.

As part of the REPowerEU plan, additional National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) funding is provided to Member States in the form of grants and loans.

My Department examined the reforms and policies taken that were most in line with the criteria set out in the REPowerEU Plan and drew up a shortlist of investment projects and policy reforms that were most applicable. My Department participates in two major projects:

1. The SEAI/HSE Pilot Energy and Decarbonisation Pathfinder Project is an investment project being led by DECC. Funding totalling €48m over the period 2024-2026 was approved with allocations €3.3m for 2024, €26.9 for 2025 and €17.78 in 2026. The SEAI/HSE Pilot Energy and Decarbonisation Pathfinder Project is the first deep retrofit of HSE sites and will be critical in terms of providing learning and experience to the HSE, which has a vast national estate portfolio. Work contracts have been signed for retrofit actions and works have commenced in five HSE estates and final design packs are being progressed. Tendering for the sites is taking place in Q4 2024, targeting works contractor appointments in Q1 2025.
2. In the REPower EU policy reform space, my Department is implementing a project to promote and accelerate the deployment of offshore wind renewable energy sources in Ireland. The reform aims to accelerate towards our target of 5 gigawatt (GW) of installed offshore wind capacity by 2030. There are several elements to the reform:
   1. The first was completed in 2023 when I published a Policy Statement on the Framework for Phase Two Offshore Wind, ‘Accelerating Ireland’s Offshore Energy Programme’ . This Phase Two Policy committed to a State plan-led system, designating offshore maritime areas for offshore wind development and focussing on technology proven at scale in other jurisdictions, as this gives us the best chance of timely achievement of our targets.
   2. On 10 October 2024, the Oireachtas approved the first designated area, the South Coast Designated Maritime Area Plan, focused on an area off the coasts of Cork, Waterford and Wexford. This South Coast DMAP identified four offshore maritime areas specifically for fixed bottom offshore wind development.
   3. Early next year, my Department will launch an auction under the Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS) to bring the first of these offshore maritime areas to the market. The Tonn Nua auction will seek a developer to build a 900 MW wind farm, with RESS financial supports.