This morning, we will engage with the National Oil Reserves Agency to examine the National Oil Reserves Agency’s financial statements for 2024. On behalf of the committee, I welcome officials from the National Oil Reserves Agency: Dr. Frank Bergin, chief executive officer, Ms Lisa Mullan, financial controller and company secretary, Mr. Gain Norris, operations manager for renewable activities, and Mr. Justin Fahey, commercial manager. We are also joined by Mr. John Burke, principal officer from the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment, who is attending in a representative capacity. We are also joined by officials from the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General, including the Comptroller and Auditor General, Mr. Seamus McCarthy, who is a permanent witness to the committee, and Ms Teresa Diamond, audit manager. You are all very welcome.

Before we begin, I will explain some limitations to parliamentary privilege and the practice of the Houses as regards references witnesses may make to other persons in their evidence. The evidence of witnesses physically present or who give evidence from within the parliamentary precincts is protected, pursuant to both the Constitution and statute, by absolute privilege. This means they have an absolute defence against any defamation action for anything they say at the meeting. Witnesses are, however, expected not to abuse this privilege and it is my duty as Cathaoirleach to ensure that this privilege is not abused. Therefore, if witnesses' statements are potentially defamatory in relation to an identifiable person or entity, they will be directed to discontinue their remarks. It is imperative that they comply with any such direction.

Witnesses are also reminded of the long-standing parliamentary practice that they should not criticise or make charges against any person or entity by name or in such a way as to make him, her or it identifiable, or otherwise engage in speech that might be regarded as damaging to the good name of the person or entity.

I call the Comptroller and Auditor General to make his opening statement.

The National Oil Reserves Agency was established on a statutory basis in 2007. The agency’s principal functions are to maintain the State’s emergency reserve oil stocks and to collect a statutory levy on the sales of petroleum products. It operates under the aegis of the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment.

The agency’s financial statements for 2024 disclosed total income of €123 million. This was almost exclusively in the form of levy receipts collected on qualifying fossil fuel sales. The levy in 2024 was a flat-rate 2 cent per litre. This was recently reduced to a nominal 0.1 cent per litre as part of a price reduction package for petroleum products.

The agency does not receive Exchequer funding. The levy receipts are intended in the first instance to cover the agency’s operating costs. Surplus levy receipts over many years allowed the agency to build up its oil stocks and invest in storage, to eliminate borrowing and to generate substantial cash reserves and financial investments. Changes in legislation in 2020 provided for surplus reserves to be transferred, at the direction of the Minister, to the statutory Climate Action Fund. That fund is managed and reported upon separately by the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment.

The agency’s operating expenditure in 2024 was €42 million, 90% of which related to the storage costs of the agency’s oil reserves.

The agency transferred €100 million to the Climate Action Fund in 2024, following a transfer of €80 million in 2023.

The agency’s statement of financial position discloses that the value of its strategic oil reserves at 31 December 2024 was €942 million. The stocks were estimated to be sufficient to cover at least 90 days of normal consumption, which is the statutory minimum to be held. Stocks were held in a combination of agency and private storage facilities on the island of Ireland and in a number of locations in other EU states. A small proportion of the stock is secured under short-term commercial contracts, which give the agency rights to purchase supply. Other than for normal stock maintenance purposes, the oil reserves are only be released to the market in the event of an emergency or a physical shortage of supplies at the direction of the Minister and as part of a co-ordinated International Energy Agency or EU-international response to an identified concern or both.

The 2024 financial statements were certified by me on 24 June 2025. I issued an unqualified opinion in respect of the financial statements. For the information of the committee, the audit of the draft 2025 financial statements is on schedule and currently nearing completion.

Thanks for that. I will now ask the chief executive officer to deliver the opening statement on behalf of the National Oil Reserves Agency. As set out in the letter of invitation, Dr. Bergin has five minutes to make his opening statement.

Thank you very much. In some ways, part of my opening statement has been covered already so I will skip that. I see our role as fourfold. The first element, as was outlined, is to hold our minimum of 90 days of oil reserves. The second element is to ensure we have resources, skills and procedures to support the Department in responding to a national or indeed an international disruption in oil supply. The third of our tasks is to administer the renewable transport fuels obligation scheme and we are the designated authority for measuring compliance with Article 7a of the fuel quality directive. The last of our tasks is to carry out the functions assigned to us as the competent authority for the purposes of enforcing the application of the ReFuelEU aviation regulations in respect of aviation fuel suppliers. Those are our four key tasks.

The agency has sanction for a team of nine individuals. One role is vacant and we will be advertising for that presently. The agency has its own board of directors, which is chaired by Mr. Frank Gleeson. There are five external members of the board, each of whom are appointed by the Minister. The CEO of NORA is also a board member. The board has one sub-committee, which is the audit and risk committee. It is comprised of three non-executive directors and is currently chaired by Mr. Rossa McCann. The agency’s internal audit function is contracted out on a rolling three-year basis. That internal audit function is currently provided by Moore Ireland. The agency obviously has an external auditor in the Comptroller and Auditor General.

On our stock holding, NORA’s holding obligation is based on the level of net imports of oil for the preceding 12 months and has remained relatively flat for the last number of years. It is adjusted annually by the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment. The agency has consistently met its 90 days stock holding obligation by holding finished, readily-marketable grades of petrol, diesel, kerosene and jet fuel. At the end of March 2026, the agency was holding the equivalent of 1.7 million tonnes of oil. That is approximately 2.1 billion litres with 140,000 tonnes of this being held by way of CSO tickets, which we might come back to at a later stage. It is important to recognise NORA physically owns and holds about 1.95 billion litres of oil, with the balance held by way of these stock options. The product is stored in a multiplicity of locations around Ireland and in oil terminals across the EU in Spain, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden.

In March of this year, Ireland agreed to participate in the release of oil reserves proposed by the IEA. Ireland’s share of the agreed 400 million barrels to be released is 1.61 million barrels or approximately 200,000 tonnes. I apologise for slipping between tonnes, barrels and litres, but unfortunately that is how the industry operates. Over the coming weeks, the agency will move to release that reserve and that will mean we will release effectively ten and a half days of stock. It is important to recognise that we hold 90 days of reserves and that is to say that if no oil was imported into the country and the refinery in Whitegate did not produce any oil, we have 90 days of stock sitting available to the State. In reality you do not get that catastrophic failure of supply but a curtailment of some supply. If that curtailment was a reduction of 20% then NORA's reserve would feed that 20%. If it were to feed just 20% of the supply, 90 days of stock would be extended out to 90 times five, which is 450 days or in excess of a year. Our reserves are quite carefully managed to allow time for those releases. Where possible, and subject to value for money, the agency holds as much of its reserves on the island as possible. At the end of March 2026, the agency was holding just two thirds of its reserves on the island, with the rest being in Europe. As I said, the product is held in a combination of industry oil terminals and three terminals we own and operate in our own right. There are two in Dublin at Poolbeg and Ringsend and one in Tarbert in Kerry.

The agency has well-developed and tested emergency response plans that set out how it will respond to a national or international supply crisis. These plans are tested regularly with both the industry and the Department and the latest of these exercises was carried out no later than last week, on 29 April. The agency has established a reporting mechanism where the oil industry supplies it with data on what is currently held in oil terminals and what the industry's future imports and sales are going to look like. That data is provided on a 15-day rolling forward basis. That allows us to see what is held in-country. Given the current crisis we have stood up that reporting mechanism. The agency is a member of the Department’s energy security group. It also attends the IEA meetings and the EU Commission-organised meetings, so we stay well connected locally and internationally.

NORA has a significant role to play in the renewables space. It is designated as the competent authority for the assessment of sustainability of biofuels placed on the market and is designated as the administrator of the renewable transport fuel obligation scheme. Under this scheme, oil companies that place fossil fuel in the transport sector are required to ensure a share of that fossil fuel is derived from renewable sources, with the current obligation being 32% by energy. NORA is also designated as the competent authority for the purposes of looking at the obligations of aviation fuel suppliers to comply with their obligations under the ReFuelEU aviation regulations. These regulations require that aviation fuel suppliers ensure from 2025 that 2% of the fuel supplied comes from sustainable sources. It is expected in 2026 that the agency will be designated as the competent authority for renewables under the renewable heat obligation and also be the administrator of the scheme.

Thank you for that, Dr. Bergin. Please note the meeting is scheduled to conclude at 12.30 p.m. as officials have another meeting to attend.

I open the floor to members. The lead speaker today is Deputy Geoghegan, who has 15 minutes. All others will have ten minutes on the conclusion of that.

Thanks, Chair. I thank the witnesses very much for being here. As Dr. Bergin outlined, in March the International Energy Agency took a decision that globally oil reserves would be released. For a decision like that, is Ireland in the room? If so, how does that work? How does a decision like that come about?

Yes. Ireland is an active member of what is called the governing board. The IEA has what is called the governing board and it makes the decisions about releases. Ireland sits at that table.

The release of global oil reserves in that situation was obviously a unanimous decision.

It is.

What is the atmosphere? In global politics it is very difficult to get 100 countries or whatever to agree.

How does one get such a level of unanimity? Ireland is a tiny country in the oil supply world. Where do we have influence in a situation like that?

We as NORA do not participate in that meeting. That is effectively somebody from the Department who sits on the governing board. How the governing board comes to a consensus is perhaps not a question for us.

In terms of how NORA holds its volume of oil, am I right in saying that one third of that oil is not on the island of Ireland?

That is correct.

Does that mean that, in effect, NORA has 60 days of oil on the island of Ireland?

Correct.

In a catastrophic scenario, how would that play out if we needed more than 60 days of oil? How do we get the ships and tankers to bring in the additional oil that would be necessary? What assessment has been done with regard to the fact that one third of our oil reserves are not on the island of Ireland?

We must bear in mind that as an island nation, everything comes in by ship. The existing oil companies that import and supply product to the country all do that by ship. In a catastrophic crisis of that nature, we would simply ask the oil companies to send those ships to collect where we have our stocks in Spain, Amsterdam or Denmark instead of picking up their oil where they normally pick it up in Europe or the UK. It is effectively three days' sailing away so it is a relatively short sailing period. All I would say to the industry is to redirect its shipping capacity.

Does NORA assess what national oil reserves in other member states are doing? Is it common for other EU member states to have their oil reserves located in different jurisdictions and countries?

There is no mandate on a stocks entity to store in national territory. My counterparts across Europe store their product in multiple locations. Our equivalent in the Netherlands - Centraal Orgaan Voorraadvorming Aardolieproducten, COVA, in Amsterdam - stores products in Germany. New Zealand keeps some of its reserves in Amsterdam. Luxembourg keeps the majority of its stock outside its national territory. It is not unusual for stocks agencies to keep their stocks outside their territory. Are we out of kilter with the norm? We are probably slightly higher than the norm but not materially so.

Is it strange that we are higher than the norm if we are an island nation? I do not know how the oil is transported in the countries referred to by Dr. Bergin but I presume that oil is transported by land, although it may not be.

No. Given the scale of some of the stocks held by others, the stocks are transferred by ship or barge. It is not unusual for product outside territories to move by ship back into territories.

So there are no additional risk considerations in terms of where we hold our stock of oil and the fact that we are an island nation.

The fact that we are an island nation means that we have to be mindful of the fact that everything is shipped into the country but that is something we just have to live with. We are an island nation.

Is there a limit? Could NORA have 50% or 40%? Could it have more oil reserves outside the island of Ireland?

What we as an agency do is constantly look to find and identify additional capacity to store on-island. The team has about five or six different projects running trying to identify alternative sites where we can store on-island. We have effectively most of the capacity. Spare capacity is utilised in storing our reserves.

I would say that a lot of people did not even know NORA existed until recent weeks. In light of what is taking place in the world, is it the intention of the agency to try to stock a higher volume of our reserve on the island of Ireland?

In the short term, we have no plans to increase what we hold on-island.

When the blockades were taking place, to what extent, if at all, did that affect the work of the agency?

Given that the agency's remit is to hold strategic reserves, blockading a facility does nothing to us. Our reserves are sitting in terminals around the country so it does not affect our operation. Under the blockade, there was plenty of product. The issue was distributing that product within the country. Our operation is unaffected by that.

In terms of the reporting mechanisms described by Dr. Bergin, NORA has this role involving oversight and understanding of how much oil is in the country at any given time. Was NORA called upon to provide any reporting as the blockades were taking place?

No, but bear in mind that our reporting is in terminals so it involves an import terminal location. As it is not downstream of those terminals, we do not have line of sight of what is held in retail forecourts or distributor depots. We merely have what is landed into oil terminals in the country.

Regarding the release that was announced in March, Dr. Bergin explained in his statement that this will physically take place in the next couple of weeks. Is that correct? Will that have any domestic impact? Obviously, there is a global impact that we all understand but will the actual physical release on this island have a domestic impact on the price at the pump and everything else?

The release of NORA's reserves would not have any impact on fuel pump prices. These are determined by the oil industry. Given that our release in this case was part of the IEA release, our release will be into the international markets. We would expect our product to be released to international oil companies. Where these companies choose to sell that product is up to them. Whether some of that comes back to Ireland is up to them. With regard to the Ukraine war, for example, we had the same issue in 2022. Some of the product we released into the international market did find its way back into Ireland.

Obviously this release is part of a global response but are there ever scenarios where NORA has a remit to release oil for exclusively domestic reasons?

Yes, we match or respond to either an international crisis or, if instructed by the Department, we will respond to a national crisis. In light of the Ukraine war, there was a tightness of supply in Dublin in 2023 so we responded by releasing diesel out of our terminal in Poolbeg to the oil industry and that release was purely to national oil companies or national suppliers in the Irish market.

Obviously the Ukraine crisis was affecting the world in terms of oil and gas prices. Could Dr. Bergin expand on why that was distinguished as a domestic response rather than a global-European response?

We responded on two levels. In response to the Ukraine war, the IEA called for an international release and we released some reserves into the international market. That then manifested itself in some local tightness in Dublin and we responded to that local tightness. Unusually, we also supplied some diesel to the refinery in Cork where there was an operational issue. We can respond to national and international issues.

When NORA carries out those releases, are they always published? Are they always known about? Is it always put out there that these releases have taken place? What are the circumstances?

With regard to international releases, it is very public that we will release our reserves. That is a very public offer and we make that publicly available to oil companies. On a national basis, we tend to work with counterparties one on one but it is always at the discretion of the Minister.

It is at the discretion of the Minister to-----

To release or not. We do not have a choice. We do not hold this State asset that we can choose who to give it to. We would normally have to engage with the Department and Minister to say we think or see there is a problem here and would suggest that the Minister releases. We would then given approval to release.

Is it always done that way? Is it always on NORA's advice as distinct from the Minister seeking to advise NORA?

It is probably fair to say that we are well connected with the supply position into the country and, therefore, we would provide some steer to the Department and the Minister but, ultimately, it is the Minister's choice as to whether he releases.

Are there circumstances where a Minister unilaterally directs NORA to take action it might advise against in the absence of it advising about a situation?

No, I have never advised against action taken. To be fair, the release under the IEA is strictly a ministerial decision, so we were simply notified that Ireland had opted to participate in the IEA release.

But in the domestic situation like Dr. Bergin outlined about the specific-----

In the domestic one, it is more by way of mutual engagement.

Could Dr. Bergin foresee scenarios in the current energy crisis where there are domestic releases of the type that took place in Ukraine?

Obviously, it is a potential at any point in time. There can be any number of reasons we might release a reserve, yes.

Is that an ongoing dialogue with the Department, the Minister-----

Yes. At the moment, we meet with the oil industry every week. Mr. Burke and his team, we in NORA and the oil industry meet once a week at this point to discuss the ongoing supply issues.

Obviously, I hope we never see a blockading of our refineries ever again. I really think that form of action has no justification, notwithstanding the challenges people faced in the country and a lot of very legitimate people who were involved in protest. The blockading, however, is a very different matter. If there were blockading of certain refineries and there were distribution issues, is the oil reserve releasing ever a remedy in those scenarios, in a domestic-type scenario, should issues like that arise again?

I would probably suggest that our role is not in the distribution and the downstream distribution. Our role is to hold 90 days of reserve of oil. It is not to distribute that to end consumption. In that context, I am not sure what role we would play if there were a disruption of distribution.

We have a reserve for - Dr. Bergin can correct me if I am wrong - petrol, diesel and kerosene, and jet fuel as well. Is that right?

Correct, yes.

But we do not have a reserve for gas, do we?

My understanding is that we do not have a reserve for gas. That is correct.

And even if we did, I can almost anticipate Dr. Bergin's statement saying, "That is not my job." I do not mean that pejoratively but-----

Yes, that is not within the scope of NORA, I am afraid. That is a separate discussion.

Dr. Bergin can tell me that he is not going to talk about this because it is not his remit, but do other jurisdictions have national gas reserves? Is this something Dr. Bergin envisages NORA might have a responsibility for in the future?

Other jurisdictions do have gas reserves. Do they have a separate agency that looks after gas reserves and oil reserves? There are multiple models across Europe. Some of them are indeed concentrated in one agency and some of them are not.

I suspect that the first thing many Ministers and the Taoiseach look at every morning is the price of oil in every Government across the world. Does that make NORA more relevant to the Government day to day? As regards the demands of what NORA does, is Dr. Bergin suddenly receiving a lot more text messages and phone calls than he ever would have in the past couple of decades? I do not mean this to be trite, but there are a lot of people out there in this country who are really nervous about facing into the winter and what the ongoing impact of the war is going to be on the prices they are paying on their electricity and their gas and at the pumps. Obviously, the Government has responded to that, but they also know that the Government response is not infinite and that the challenges remain. What role does NORA play in supporting the Government with the best available advice and information on what is taking place, or is it literally that the Government just has to rely on what is taking place in the global supply market?

Our role is, as I said, primarily to hold 90 days of reserves. However, we extend that role to engage with the industry and to ensure that we understand the supply chain all the way through from extraction from the ground through to finishing in the marketplace, so we do have a degree of expertise about the oil supply chain and the oil business. It is fair to say that when there is a crisis we are called upon more frequently than when there is none. We sit in the background very quietly. We are an insurance policy for the State should a crisis occur, but we tend to take a very low profile, we sit in the back and we do our homework to ensure that we understand the market dynamics. Do I see us being engaged more frequently when there is a crisis? Yes, I do. Will that continue while this current crisis is ongoing? Yes, it will.

I apologise for boosting Dr. Bergin's profile by bringing him before the public accounts committee because he has done a great job in keeping a low one up until today.

That is quite all right.

I thank Dr. Bergin and his colleagues for being here this morning. Dr. Bergin mentioned in his opening statement the obligation for a 90-day minimum reserve. Is there a maximum as part of that obligation?

No, there is no maximum. It is to store a minimum of 90 days' worth. Obviously, during an IEA release, when the Minister instructs us to release, that 90 days gets lowered, so we will hit 79.5 days by the time we have finished this IEA release, but no, there is no maximum. Different member states, interestingly, and different members of the IEA hold different levels, but the minimum is 90 days.

Has Dr. Bergin or the board considered in recent times an additional ten days, 12 days, 15 days, or is 90 days always going to be the minimum?

Our view is that 90 days is the appropriate level. It would be strange to start trying to build up stocks in a time of crisis. When on one hand you are releasing into the market, it would be very strange on the other hand to be trying to build up stocks again, so now is not the right time to build those reserves, given that you are releasing reserves to help the market. From time to time, yes, the agency does consider whether 90 days is the appropriate level. The IEA in its own right also reconsiders whether 90 days is the right level. There had been some discussions through last year as to whether that 90 days would be reduced to 60 days. If you were to look through all the crises that have ever happened within the industry, there have been only five releases in the IEA and all of those have been relatively modest in scale in that countries have released maybe only 5% or 10% of the stocks they have held. In terms of the level of stocks to be held in all the crises we have had over the lifetime of the IEA, no more than 10% of those reserves have been released. I accept that this time may be different, but that is the historical position.

As regards the 10.5 days we are contributing to that release, is that coming from the internationally held reserve or from the domestically held reserve, or how does that work?

We do not distinguish. We hold 90 days, and that 90 days can meet either an international crisis or a national crisis.

But, physically, when the actual unit is released, where will that come from?

We could release it from any of the storage facilities we hold. In the first round we will release out of the CSO tickets I referred to. We release those CSO tickets and they are currently held in Europe. We will release some of our on-island stock out of Belfast, and that is probably to meet an operational issue in that we have to come out of that terminal for other operational reasons anyway.

As regards the tickets piece, I am not au fait with this. The international reserve we hold is not necessarily a physical unit in a terminal but more a communal agreement. Is my understanding-----

No, it is not a communal agreement. We, as NORA, hold our own reserves. Regardless of the fact that we might hold them in Ireland or in Europe, it is physically NORA's product and it is the State's asset. We meet some of our 90-day obligation through these CSO tickets. A CSO ticket, to try to explain that as best I can, is effectively a call option. It is a paper contract that means that in the event of a crisis my counter-party will sell me oil that I can release to the market. We tend to hold a relatively small portion of our obligation by way of these tickets and we normally hold them for operational reasons. For example, we might be refurbishing a terminal or we might be doing maintenance on a terminal, so we would have to take out the physical product, but to ensure we meet our 90-day obligation we would take these paper contracts to meet our obligation.

Apart from the paper contracts then, how much are we looking at in terms of the cost of storage for the physical units that are stored internationally? Is that in comparison to the domestically held units? Is there an increase or a difference in how much it costs?

Physically, when we hold product nationally in oil terminals, or in oil terminals in Europe, we pay slightly different rates between Europe and Ireland. Ireland is probably at the higher end of the scale compared with Europe.

Ostensibly, we are holding physical molecules in oil terminals so we are paying rates to store oil. It is the same concept.

It is cheaper, however. Is that what I am hearing? Is it cheaper to store it internationally than to store it domestically?

It is cheaper to hold the stocks in Europe than it is to hold them in Ireland, yes.

Who owns the terminals in Ireland?

All of the oil companies. In Dublin, there are terminals owned by Circle K, Irving and Valero. We store product at those locations. We also store product at the Whitegate refinery, the Inver terminal in Foynes, the Circle K terminal in Galway, the LCC terminal in Derry and the Greenergy terminal in Belfast. We hold it in the industry oil terminals around the country.

We are paying for that privilege.

Yes.

Is domestic capacity for storage maxed out at 60 days?

At the moment, we are utilising as much of the national capacity as possible. We are looking at options for new storage. For example, there are some old fuel oil tanks available in one location. We are talking to the relevant counterparty to see if we can take on those tanks, refurbish them and hold product on the island. We are continuing to look at old storage tanks that we might be in a position to refurbish and use for storage.

With the release of these 1.6 million barrels, I assume NORA will have to go into the market to recoup those stocks over time. How does that process work? We are used to hearing about procurement in here. Is it the same process? Does NORA put a tender out and see who comes back? What arrangement is in place to draw those 1.6 million barrels back?

When we buy and sell physical product, we tend to do so by way of a competitive bidding process. It is not quite a tender, although it is similar. We go out to a multiplicity of counterparties we deal with and ask them to bid either to sell us product or to buy product we have released.

What is the timeframe to get us back to 90 days' supply? How long does NORA have to do that?

The timeframe to get back to 90 days will effectively be driven by the timing of the European Commission and the IEA. They have asked us to release reserves. At some point in time, once this crisis is over, they will declare it to be so and will then ask stock agencies to rebuild their stocks. That will happen at some point in the future but I do not know when.

It is not set out in legislation that the agency has a 30-day or 60-day period.

No. It is quite clear that, if we sell out, we remain at the reduced number of days' supply until the crisis is over and then rebuild our stocks.

I understand. When NORA goes to restore those stocks, is that funded from cash or asset reserves within NORA or is funding sought from the Department? How does the mechanism play out?

At the moment, we are in the fortunate position of having cash reserves, which are held with the NTMA. We are in a position to use those cash reserves. If those reserves are not sufficient to allow us to buy the oil, we would have to borrow that money from commercial banks. We do not go back to the Department to look for funding.

The agency goes to banks to get a loan.

Yes. That is what the agency did in its early infancy stages as it built up the 1.7 million tonnes it owns. It went to the banks and borrowed money on the commercial markets. The levy has been used to repay those loans. That is why we are now in surplus. We paid off the last of those loans in 2017.

Okay. That is all from me. I thank Dr. Bergin.

I thank the witnesses very much for coming in today. This is obviously very pertinent. People at home are now very interested in the agency. I have just a few questions on what has been said before I move onto the questions I had planned to ask, if that is all right.

With regard to the International Energy Agency, my colleague asked when stocks will be replenished. I assume the agency will do so when it gets the go-ahead but also when the price is right. Is there a particular price at which it has purchased in the past? Does it wait for a particular price or, if it is told to purchase, does it just purchase at market price?

We will wait until the IEA or the Commission advises the Minister to tell us to rebuild stocks. That is the process by which the timing is determined. As to whether we have a target price at which we buy, no, we do not. We are price takers. We both buy and sell at the prevailing market price of the day. If we sold oil today, we would sell it at today's market price. If we bought oil today, we would buy it at today's price.

Does the agency have details of the price per barrel at which it purchased its supply?

We have a weighted average. It must be borne in mind that some of the stocks we have laid down, for example, in Bantry Bay or in the refinery, were laid down when the agency first started. We hold the value at cost on the balance sheet. The cost of those stocks was relatively cheap. The stocks we bought last year will be relatively more expensive. It is a weighted average.

What is that average?

It is about €700 a tonne.

Does Dr. Bergin have a price per barrel?

I am sorry; I do not. I would have to convert that price to the barrel price. I can get that information for the Deputy.

A lot of people at home are asking what a metric tonne is. It was only described to me recently. It is like one of those plastic water barrels. That can help people to envisage it properly.

If you have a home heating oil tank in your back garden, that would hold about a tonne of jet fuel.

Dr. Bergin mentioned that the agency uses the NORA levy to make the loan repayments.

The NORA levy was historically used to reduce NORA's borrowings, yes.

Does Dr. Bergin envisage that levy being scrapped?

I am afraid I would have to ask the Department what it wishes to do with the levy. It is not for us to decide.

Dr. Bergin said ministerial agreement is needed to release oil, which NORA has been told to do. He also said that, when purchasing at market price, the agency draws down the funds held within the NTMA. Does the agency need ministerial approval to do that?

No. Once the Minister asks us to rebuild our stocks to 90 days' supply, we have the vires to buy as we need to.

As a country, we have come through fuel protests and are still within a cost-of-living crisis. Energy prices and electricity prices are very high. People have taken a real interest in Dr. Bergin's organisation and the supply of oil to the country. During the recent fuel protests, did Dr. Bergin believe there was a risk to our national fuel supply? On a scale of one to ten, with ten being extremely worried and one being not so worried, how worried was he?

Looking at the risks, as I said earlier on, there was plenty of oil available. From our perspective, we did not perceive a supply risk in terms of oil availability. The challenge the State faced was in getting that oil from the terminal to the consumer. That is not really-----

In saying that, is Dr. Bergin referring to the blockade at the Whitegate refinery or just the roads being blocked and people being unable to move?

It was a combination of the two. It should be borne in mind that it was not only the Whitegate refinery that was blocked. There were similar blockades at the Foynes terminal, which is an import terminal, and at the Galway terminal, which is another import point. There were blockades at the main point of production and at two points of import.

Did those blockades cause Dr. Bergin to fear any risks?

Our role is to ensure there are physical molecules available for distribution. Our concern was not around the availability of molecules but how they are distributed to consumers, which is outside our scope.

We have heard that there were discussions about fuel tankers being turned away, affecting our supply. Is that something NORA was concerned about?

Again, I will make the distinction in respect of supply. There was no shortage of supply. There was a challenge in distributing to consumers.

I understand that. NORA's message is that, as far as it is concerned, had there been no blockades, there would have been absolutely no issue with oil supply in the country.

That is correct.

Does that remain the case?

The risk of distribution disruption remains an issue.

That remains an issue but the actual supply of oil in the country is not an issue.

As it stands at the moment, no.

Did the protests and the blockades at the ports and refineries show a weakness in our fuel distribution network or is Dr. Bergin not prepared to talk about the network part?

You cannot ignore the fact that it is a vulnerability in distribution.

Regarding the release of the 10%, that is something that happened very recently. Does that worry Dr. Bergin? Does he think we will see another release soon? Will our 90-day supply be enough? Will there be another 10% release in another few months or weeks? It is probably one of the first times we have done this release.

No. We would have participated in the voluntary release for Ukraine, in my short time in the role. I stepped into this role just as the Ukraine war broke out. I will step out of this role in three weeks' time as regards the current crisis. The reality is that these releases happen from time to time. Do I see a further release? The IEA has indicated that at this point in time, it is not looking at another release. However, we have to realise that what is happening in the Middle East is absolute uncertainty and none of us has seen the likes of it before. Could the IEA call for another release? Yes, it could. Could we, at a national level, have a challenge in terms of supply? International production cannot be cut by 20% and we expect that life carries on as normal. At some point, the impact of that international cut of 20% will make its way to Ireland. It is likely that in the absence of a resolution we may be called upon to release national reserves.

At the moment, in terms of our release, tickets are being given up rather than transferring as a physical release? Is that the case?

As I said earlier, the first stage in meeting the IEA's call for a release is to terminate our CSO tickets. We are now down to about 2% of our volume held by tickets. It is likely that if there is another call for a release, we will move physical product.

Dr. Bergin mentioned the move from the storage facility in Belfast. As part of the release, Dr. Bergin said it is mainly on a ticket release. Is that right?

The first tranche of it will be ticket released.

Is any of it from the Belfast facility?

Then the second part of it will be physical diesel out of Belfast, yes.

Is that part of the 10%?

That is part of the 10%.

Is NORA tendering at the moment?

We have not issued that tender yet. We would expect to issue it in the next week or so.

Will that be available on the Irish tenders website?

No. We do not do it by way of public tender. We talk to international fuel suppliers.

Is it not a tender for oil storage?

No. It is the supply of physical volume to companies.

Dr. Bergin mentioned moving from the oil storage in Belfast.

Yes, because that contract is terminating.

Will NORA be replacing that?

No. We will use that volume as part of the release.

The storage will not need to be replaced, but it will if we replenish our stock.

I will have to find somewhere else to store that stock.

When will that happen?

When the crisis is over.

When the crisis is over NORA will be looking for another location to store it.

Yes.

Will that be in the Republic or in another jurisdiction?

As it stands at the moment it is likely to be in Europe.

Okay. I thank Dr. Bergin.

I worked with Dr. Bergin or Frank, as I would have known him, for a number of years, so we know each other quite well.

A very small world we live in.

Exactly. We worked together in Circle K for a number of years. It is great to have Dr. Bergin here. When I heard that he was coming, I was happy it would be someone so knowledgeable and who knew so much. I know he would be an excellent witness and would be very forthcoming with any information on any questions that we would have. I am delighted to have him here.

I might move slightly away from what has been covered to aviation fuel. I want to use Dr. Bergin's breadth and depth of knowledge to discuss and maybe allay some of the fears and questions that people have about fuel and how it comes into the country. Kerosene is a major component of the fuel industry in Ireland. What oils does NORA hold in reserve?

Effectively, kerosene is the same product as jet fuel. It is called dual purpose kerosene. The country imports dual purpose kerosene. It can be used to heat homes. In heating tanks in homes, sitting in that tank is most likely jet fuel. The industry imports it as dual purpose kerosene, sends its off one way to the airport, under more strict controls, and sends it off the other way into the home heating market. Not all suppliers bring in dual purpose kerosene. The refinery, for example, only produces burning kerosene for the domestic market. All of our jet fuel comes in through the three terminals at Dublin Port, the Circle K terminal, the Tedcastle terminal and the Valero terminal. They all bring in dual purpose kerosene that goes to the airport or off into the heating space.

What sort of level of fuel would be jet fuel? A lot of the oil we get comes from Valero and Circle K and we are happy enough with that, but a lot of the kerosene comes from areas in conflict, such as the Strait of Hormuz. There would be more of a question mark around kerosene coming into Ireland more so than for petrol and diesel. Would that be fair to say?

It is fair to say. Most of our jet fuel comes in via the UK. It comes in from refineries on the west coast of the UK and is then supplied into Ireland. We are heavily dependent on the UK. In reality, most of that product is imported from various parts of the world. The war in the Middle East did have an impact on what comes into the UK. NORA does not hold 90 days' worth of all grades of oil. We are slightly long on diesel; we are just shy of 100 days. We are over on petrol and we have about 70 days of jet kerosene. We have the capacity to respond to either a jet fuel short or a kerosene short, depending on what is needed.

Okay. That is what I wanted clarity on. As I said, coming up to the summer season, there has been a lot of concern about holidays. People wonder will there be cuts in flights. From an Irish perspective, could NORA be there to facilitate if there were any gaps in the supply of fuel?

Again, it goes back to the model I referred to earlier. If there were a 20% cut in the international supply of jet fuel globally, we cannot believe we would be insulated from that. If there were a 20% cut in the supply of jet fuel, we would move to fill the 20% gap. The 70 days we hold now becomes 70 times five because we are only filling 20%, so in reality we have a full year in which NORA's reserves could meet that deficit

It is an issue that keeps coming up so I wanted to raise it. Will Dr. Bergin explain how the pricing from Valero might work? I am using his wider industry experience here. There is a question, if oil is bought two months ago, how we are dealing with the implications of the price increases there and then. Will Dr. Bergin explain the industry model, how it pertains to Ireland and how it would pertain to NORA when it buys supplies?

It is easy to answer the last one in that it has no impact for NORA. We have no role to play in market pricing. That is not within our scope. There is a risk that I am straying out of the role that I have as the CEO of NORA into talking about more general market issues.

I think it is worth Dr. Bergin explaining it while he is here.

The reality is that oil companies in Ireland import finished grades based on the benchmark price on the day. The benchmark price is set in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp region. That daily price effectively sets what oil companies buy their product at in Ireland on any given day.

If the international price spikes in a day, the national price will follow very quickly thereafter.

That question has been asked politically as to what the implications are.

Immediate.

I wanted Dr. Bergin to highlight that and how it comes out quite quickly. We buy at an international rate. They are buying the previous day's rate the next day. Obviously, there is a margin to distributors down the line out, whatever margin that might be. That is pretty much a set margin to the distributors.

Correct.

Those distributors ultimately set it out to the customer. What you are seeing is a very live price that ultimately the public are dealing with due to the model of the oil coming into the country. It is worthwhile highlighting that here today while NORA is here.

That is my understanding of the market.

It is mine as well. Dr. Bergin probably explained it once or twice to me.

I will go back to the financials. NORA may not carry quite a bit of cash, but is there a bit of cash held in its financial statements and investments? Will Dr. Bergin explain the financial investments and the reasons for the cash? Is that just a subjective number that floats up and down, or is it something where NORA holds a steady amount? I think I saw €100 million. Is that correct? Maybe I read it wrong.

We do hold a cash reserve. However, we have a policy of only holding cash within the months that is sufficient to meet our liquidity needs of that month. The balance of all of our surplus is then held with the NTMA on either short-term or long-term Exchequer notes. We do not actually have a reservoir or safe that has cash in it. We have a small amount of cash to meet our liquidity needs in a month. The rest is all held with the NTMA.

It is like a clearing model where the NTMA clears if NORA is above a certain threshold. Is that correct?

No. There is no cash sweep. It is us pushing money to the NTMA. It is not a cash sweep model. The way it is reflected in the accounts is if some of those have a maturity date within three months, they are deemed as cash. If they have a maturity date longer than 12 months, they are deemed as investments. It is an unusual way in which they are represented in the accounts.

I saw the investments and was wondering what type of investments NORA has in the accounts.

That is just the termination date of the Exchequer note with the NTMA. That is what determines whether it is treated as an investment for accounting purposes or whether it is treated as a cash equivalent.

I think there was over €200 million in that at the year end accounts. It is €100 million in cash and €217 million or so, just off the top of my head.

No. There is no cash. It is €100 million held with the NTMA on short-term Exchequer notes versus longer term Exchequer notes. We do not sit on large amounts of cash.

I think it was noted in the financial statements. It must have been a cash equivalent. Maybe that is where it was.

It is written as cash equivalent.

That is fine. As regards the number of people, NORA has eight people and is looking for an extra person. Is that it?

The organisation has a sanction for nine. We currently have eight. We will recruit for another shortly.

How many members are on the board?

There are five external board members appointed by the Minister. The CEO makes up the sixth.

How regularly would the board meet? What sort of communications would there be with the Minister relating to the issues?

The board meets six times a year. There is a representative from the Department on the board, Marc Kierans. I, as the CEO, along with the chairman, meet with the Minister at least once a year. I could not tell the Deputy how many times I talked to the Department during these days, but I would meet with the Minister formally once a year along with the chairperson.

That covers nearly everything. If there is anything else, I can come back in. I am happy enough.

The witnesses are all very welcome here today. In terms of NORA, the levy and the income from the sale of stocks, etc., from NORA, is that completely ring-fenced for the Climate Action Fund?

The NORA levy is collected on our behalf to meet our expenses. The fact that at the moment we have surplus over our expenses and are paid into the Climate Action Fund, we have no line of sight of what the Department does once we transfer it into the Climate Action Fund.

Last year, as Deputy Neville mentioned, €100 million was put in.

We transferred €100 million into the CAF.

That was in 2024. In 2025, was it €80 million?

We will probably do another €97 million. We will transfer €97 million in 2025.

Does Mr. Bergin have any idea how it is going and how much it will be this year?

Given that we will not receive the NORA levy for a number of months, it is probably going to be of the order of €60 million for 2026.

What is the reason it will be down?

We have not collected any of the NORA levy. The CAF can only be transferred on the basis of what is invoiced and collected by way of the NORA levy.

It is generally around €100 million a year that is given to the Climate Action Fund.

On a steady state and modelling, yes, we would expect about €100 million.

What year did it start?

We started in 2020.

Has there been approximately €100 million every year?

It was €28 million in the first year. Overall to the end of 2025, we will have transferred about €490 million to the CAF.

I must submit a question in relation to what that has been spent on.

It is scheduled to be included in a future meeting on the Climate Action Fund.

If you are paying into the NORA fund, eventually, we would be hopeful that there will be more climate action measures that will come out of that funding. How will that affect NORA in the long run? Not as many people will be reliant on kerosene and diesel, if they have electric cars and use electric pumps in their houses. How will that affect NORA in the long run?

If fossil fuel consumption falls, as the State drives for renewables, the NORA levy will fall. However, at the same time, if that falls, then the overall consumption of fossil and renewable liquids will fall. Therefore, our stockholding obligation will fall and our cost base falls. If the Deputy looks at the financial projections in the strategy statement that she has a copy of, she can see that for the next five or ten years that the agency will have sufficient funds to be able to run itself.

Will the storage facilities need to be reduced at that stage?

The way in which we structure our storage contracts is a combination of both short-term and long-term storage agreements. As the obligation rolls over, we would cancel our shorter term contracts for storage. We have a very flexible model in how we take our storage.

In relation to the storage facilities, Dr. Bergin mentioned a contract in Belfast is finished. Why would that be finished?

The terminal operator has an alternative use for the asset. We will not be storing our product there.

In relation to stocks, Dr. Bergin mentioned that stocks have been sold off. Will that go into the Climate Action Fund as well?

No. The proceeds of the sale of inventory does not fall within the scope of a transfer to the Climate Action Fund. The Climate Action Fund only collects NORA levy income that has been invoiced and collected within the year.

One of the documents mentions palm oil derivative, POME. Is that an issue? Is that in storage here?

We do not store renewable fuels at the moment. All that we store is fossil fuel.

NORA has no issues in relation to that derivative or anything in relation to our oil reserves.

No. That issue came up because we are the administrator of the road transport fuel obligation scheme. We would have identified that there were some risks associated with the use of biodiesel produced from palm oil mill effluent.

NORA has no issues in relation to that. I think nearly everybody has asked everything that I wanted to ask. A tax clearance certificate was mentioned. What happened during 2004? A single payment was made to one supplier of €10,500 without a tax clearance certificate.

If the Deputy does not mind, I will ask Ms Mullan to take that question.

This was a payment for an insurance policy that NORA had.

When the invoice was received, the person who actually looks after tax clearance did not realise tax clearance was required for that and just thought it was an insurance policy payment. It was not, therefore, put on our list at the time for tax clearance certificates. As a result, it just was not checked at the time of payment.

Would NORA check tax clearance certificates for everybody that it deals with?

We do, including all foreign suppliers.

Over what amount?

Everything over €10,000.

Anything over €10,000, okay.

We tend to take a look at the aggregate up to €10,000, so we would look at the accounts and see how much we have actually paid in the year to date. We would do that consistently now. As a result of that, one payment was made before the tax clearance certificate being checked. Then, as part of the normal month-end review of accounts, it was noted that the tax clearance certificate was not with the payment. Then, the file was noted to the Comptroller and Auditor General so that when it came to the year-end account, we could actually provide the information and ensure that the note would be made into the statement of internal control.

Very good. Going back to the Climate Action Fund, Dr. Bergin said that in 2025, NORA transferred €97 million. Why was there a deficit in 2024? Was there a deficit for NORA?

If we think about NORA and just the broad numbers, we take in €120 million of levy income. We spend €40 million in running the company, so we would expect €80 million of a surplus. If we transfer €100 million to the Climate Action Fund, we have a deficit.

Why would it transfer more than it had?

As we are sitting on some reserves, that allow us to run down our reserves in order to transfer the money.

Okay. If there is so much in the levy, does Dr. Bergin believe that the Government should be charging that levy? That is an additionality on to people's kerosene and diesel and petrol prices for their cars and for oil and-----

The Deputy might not like the answer I am going to give her but, effectively, it is Government policy as to what it chooses to do by way of levies. It is not within our gift.

The Government has made that decision to charge the additionality on top of kerosene, oil and diesel.

We are asked to charge a 2 cent per litre levy, which we charge and recover.

NORA will have reduced that on-----

There is a provision in law for a levy to be applied, so it is a matter for Government to determine.

That has been reduced, however. Somebody said it was 0.1 cent. It has been reduced.

Yes, I mentioned that in the-----

It can be reduced from time to time.

It can be reduced when the need arises or when we would want to do so. If Government wanted to reduce it, it could reduce it. It is 0.1 cent at the moment.

It is.

Out of the 0.1 cent, NORA is still sending over €100 million to the-----

No. This year, in 2026, we will transfer probably €60 million because we will not be getting the levy income coming in.

That is okay. Those are all my questions. I thank everyone very much.

I thank the witnesses for being here. As one of my colleagues said, we apologise for raising Dr. Bergin's profile, but a certain gentleman on the other side of the Atlantic has probably raised his profile rather than us. When NORA's accounts came before us, I realised it is Dr. Bergin's first time appearing before the Committee of Public Accounts. Is that correct?

It is.

I apologise for it being so easy, but that is probably as a result of Dr. Bergin's good financial management. I suppose I am struggling a little bit to get to the bottom of those finances. The income from the NORA levy funds NORA-----

Yes.

-----with a surplus then that is transferred to the Climate Action Fund.

Correct.

NORA retains about €40 million.

Roughly; it changes. It could be €41 million or €42 million.

Can Dr. Bergin give us a rough breakdown of the €40 million in approximate terms? What is NORA spending that €40 million on?

About 90% of that €40 million is spent on storing oil in oil terminals or running the three terminals we own and operate.

Dr. Bergin is saying that 90% does not necessarily go on the products or on purchasing oil. He is talking about it going on the storage and management of it.

The €40 million is just running the company. If we have to buy oil, that is separate to all of that.

Dr. Bergin might tell me how that works-----

When we buy oil-----

-----in terms of the financing of it.

If we buy oil, we buy it from our cash reserves.