Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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209. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the current timeline of delivery for the proposed acquisition of a State-leased floating storage and regasification unit and construction of ancillary infrastructure; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38724/25]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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212. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government when the promised public consultation on a State-led floating storage and regasification unit, as outlined by the previous Minister of this Department, will be undertaken, keeping in mind Ireland’s commitments under the Aarhus Convention and the legal challenges taken by an organisation (details supplied) in relation to lack of necessary public participation on the updated National Energy and Climate Plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38727/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 209 and 212 together.

As the Deputy is aware, I recently received Government approval to proceed with the development of a State-led strategic gas emergency reserve. The delivery of a temporary gas reserve is critical to Ireland’s energy security as we continue to transition to indigenous, clean renewable energy. Crucially, the strategic gas emergency reserve will also ensure compliance with EU standards and regulation.

This decision completes the ‘Energy Security in Ireland to 2030’ approved by the previous Government in November 2023.

The plan, of which the Strategic Gas Emergency Reserve is action 17, sets out Ireland’s ambition to transform our energy system and support our climate objectives. The plan includes 28 actions, under the pillars of sustainability, affordability and security.

The report determined 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 gas facility was recommended in the report, to be used only if a disruption to gas supplies occurs.

As part of the analysis, the Package included:

• A major public consultation exercise with over 450 responses that were reviewed and influenced the final report;
• “Technical Analysis” on security of electricity and gas supply with scenarios and risks that inform the ESP;
• Policy analysis and a work programme on oil security of supply;
• An Independent Review on Security of Electricity Supply (the McCarthy report) with recommendations have been actioned; and
• An energy security response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine (“National Energy Security Framework”) with actions that have been integrated into Ireland’s overall energy security response to 2030.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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210. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the locations short-listed for the State-leased floating storage and regasification unit and associated; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38725/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy is aware, as a final part of the review of the Energy Security Package, I recently received Government approval to proceed with Action 17 of the Package to develop a State-led strategic gas emergency reserve.

A comprehensive site selection process is underway by Gas Networks Ireland (GNI) to determine the optimal location for a strategic gas emergency reserve. GNI is currently progressing with technical analysis studies and surveys to inform the site selection process, and multiple locations are currently being assessed to determine the optimum site for the State led strategic gas emergency reserve.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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211. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government to list the gas storage “onshore salt cavern” locations that have been identified for a ‘full mitigation scenario’, as outlined by the Gas Networks Ireland ‘Preliminary Business Case’; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38726/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy is aware, I recently received Government approval to proceed with the development of a State-led strategic gas emergency reserve. This follows from and is in line with the decision taken by the previous Government to take the necessary action to secure Ireland’s energy security as we continue to transition to indigenous, clean renewable energy. Crucially, the strategic gas emergency reserve will also ensure compliance with EU standards and regulation.

The full migration scenario outlined in the Gas Networks Ireland's preliminary business cases identified the combination of a Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) and an onshore salt cavern. GNI advise that the technology assessment undertaken was site agnostic, it focused on the technology options rather than location factors at the preliminary stage. However, the example of an onshore salt cavern was from a site in Northern Ireland.