Shay Brennan (Dublin Rathdown, Fianna Fail)
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181. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide an update on his policy regarding the establishment of a strategic gas reserve; if private companies will be considered as part of the delivery or operation of this reserve; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46738/25]

Shay Brennan (Dublin Rathdown, Fianna Fail)
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182. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if comprehensive environmental assessments have been undertaken on proposals from private companies to operate or host Ireland’s strategic gas reserve; the status of such applications or assessments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46739/25]

Shay Brennan (Dublin Rathdown, Fianna Fail)
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183. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the criteria being used to determine whether the State, private companies, or a mixture of both should operate or develop strategic gas storage infrastructure; and if he will comment on the transparency of the decision-making process. [46740/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 181 to 183, inclusive, together.

Earlier this year I 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 regulations.

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.

The Energy Security Review anticipated that in terms of delivery options, a Strategic Gas Emergency Reserve provided through a storage and importation facility - an FSRU - was the most appropriate approach to deliver the necessary energy security. This is a solution preferred by a range of EU Member States.

The strategic gas emergency reserve will be a State-led approach. State-led means commissioned by the state via GNI within a regulatory framework overseen by CRU. This does not preclude a public private partnership nor the involvement of private firms contracted to provide, build or operate the necessary infrastructure. Public procurement processes will determine any future delivery partners. The operation of the strategic gas emergency reserve will be underpinned by policy and legislation that the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment is progressing, as a matter of priority.

Gas Networks Ireland recently issued a Request for Information (RFI) to take market soundings from interested market operators, to identify capabilities, cost factors and general market dynamics for the provision and operation of a Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) and associated infrastructure for the strategic gas emergency reserve. The principal objective of this exercise was to receive feedback and gather information from the market to inform options to develop the project, in the context of the strategic reserve being owned and operated by Gas Networks Ireland.

Gas Networks Ireland will now progress the project through the relevant planning, environmental and regulatory processes, with appropriate stakeholder engagement, to develop this strategic reserve and mitigate the risk to Ireland's society and economy of an interruption to gas supplies.

Shay Brennan (Dublin Rathdown, Fianna Fail)
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184. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government to list the stakeholders, including private companies, community groups and industry, that have been consulted on the future of gas storage and liquid natural gas in Ireland in 2024 and 2025; and to confirm if feedback from these groups will inform final policy. [46741/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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Earlier this year I 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 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, which is published in Annex 3 on gov.ie here: www.gov.ie/en/department-of-climate-energy-and-the-environment/publications/energy-security-in-ireland-to-2030/

As part of the consultation, respondents were requested to consider a number of questions when submitting a response, under a number of key aspects such as risk, mitigation options and policy measures. The consultation submissions were reviewed and analysed, and provided important insights into the final energy security report.

In addition to this significant consultation process, officials from my Department have been actively engaged with relevant stakeholders from industry and interest groups, and further stakeholder engagement is anticipated as the project progresses through the relevant planning and delivery phases.