Ciarán Ahern (Dublin South West, Labour)
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126. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his views on the potential use of liquefied natural gas as an energy source in Ireland; if he envisions the construction of a liquefied natural gas terminal in Ireland in the future; if he intends to ban the use of liquefied natural gas as an energy source in Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7038/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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As outlined in the Programme for Government, this Government is committed to taking decisive action to radically reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and to achieve a 51% reduction in emissions from 2018 to 2030, and to achieving net-zero emissions no later than 2050.

In the Programme for Government we also set out our commitment to achieving 80% of Ireland’s electricity generation from renewable sources by 2030 and to take all necessary action to ensure and protect Ireland’s energy security.

It is through delivering on this commitment that we will deliver a secure and sustainable energy future.

The commitment to a secure energy future builds upon the Energy Security in Ireland to 2030 report approved by the previous Government and published in November 2023. Specifically in relation to Natural Gas this report concluded that 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 Strategic Gas Emergency Reserve in the form of a Floating Storage and Regassification Unit (FSRU) 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.

In parallel my Department are developing the appropriate policy and legislative measures to ensure that a strategic reserve 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 and
• is compatible with the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act