We will now go to the Rural Independent Group. I call Deputy Michael Healy-Rae.

When the Tánaiste said he was against the Shannon liquefied natural gas, LNG, project, he was nearly the cause of a car accident. I say this because a number of Fine Gael Deputies and councillors headed to the land bank in Tarbert to stand there and to say that they were in support of it. Do his Deputies and councillors have that little influence over him, or does he pay so little heed to them that he ignores them as he is ignoring the people of north Kerry, south Kerry, east Kerry and west Kerry, who desperately want the Shannon LNG project to go ahead?

The events over the last number of weeks have shown us that now more than ever we should be trying to produce energy ourselves. We should be trying to produce gas ourselves and trying to make ourselves as self-sufficient as we can possibly be. As the Tánaiste knows, in 2019, natural gas made up 41% of the total of the country’s heat requirements. Last year, 42% of the country’s electricity was generated through gas-fired plants. Some 73% of Ireland’s natural gas is imported from the UK. While Ireland does not rely on Russia for gas or oil, the situation remains volatile and subject to upward pressures for as long as the conflict continues.

All we have heard from the Government is it telling us we should use more and more electricity and, at the same time, it is doing less and less about producing it. It shut Bord na Móna, it is telling people they cannot go to the bog to save their own turf and that it does not want them to cut timber, and it is pandering to the green agenda continuously. Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have sold their souls to the Green Party. They stand for absolutely nothing now and the people are no longer saying it is only the Green Party. They are saying Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are only dancing to the Green Party tune. An LNG plant would provide security during a transition period, and once the time comes to move to away from natural gas, the terminal could be repurposed. Instead, the Government is going along with this agenda, as I outlined.

The Tánaiste stands in the Chamber and treats people with contempt, because he is saying nothing of any meaning to them. He answered Deputy McDonald earlier and said nothing in response to a sound question. I am going to ask him a straight question. Is he going to come in here in the month of May, and are his backbenchers going to come in here in the month of May, and seriously tell the people the Government is going to impose further carbon taxes on them, which will further increase the cost of their oil, further increase the cost of their electricity and make it harder for them to make ends meet and to clothe their children, send them to school, heat their homes and travel to and from work? Is the Tánaiste just going to deny them the right to live, quite simply because he is following the green agenda, because he sold his soul to the Green Party to become Tánaiste and to become Taoiseach? It is a case of anything for power; power at all costs.

I believe the record will reflect I gave a substantive reply to Deputy McDonald, to Deputy Shortall and to Deputy Lowry-----

The fact the Deputy did not like or understand the reply is more of a reflection on him than it is on me, quite frankly.

In respect of the programme for Government, it is there in black and white. Anyone can read it. It is clear what the programme for Government states on LNG, and that programme for Government was approved after a democratic vote by the Oireachtas Members of my party, our councillors and our members, and everyone in Fianna Fáil and the Green Party. Everyone in the three parties was very aware of what they were signing up for when they personally voted for that programme for Government, which they did.

There is currently a planning application lodged with respect to the proposed LNG terminal in Tarbert. As I have said before in this House, the planning application is live and is with An Bord Pleanála. If that terminal is granted planning permission and if the developers and promoters can build it, they can proceed and the Government will not block it. However, we believe that the future, the future we stand for, when it comes to energy has to be about price stability and energy security. We do not believe importing natural gas or fracked gas, or importing any fuel in fact, is going to provide us with energy security and price stability. We are facing the problems we now face precisely because we have to import oil, coal and gas from Russia, the Middle East, Venezuela and other parts of the world. It is not a good position to be in.

The Deputy seems to be advocating we should continue that forever. We do not think that is right; things need to change. We believe the future is in renewables, not in producing electricity from coal, oil, gas or turf but in producing offshore wind, which provides the electricity we need, coupled with interconnection, and turning offshore wind into hydrogen. Hydrogen is the fuel of the future because it can replace natural gas, power trucks and be dispatchable, and can even be used in power plants instead of natural gas. That is the vision we have, particularly for the Shannon Estuary and for sites such as Moneypoint, Foynes and Tarbert. That is the solution, producing our own energy in that region along the Shannon Estuary, with renewable energy from wind backed up with batteries and interconnection, and turning it into hydrogen, which will turn us from being an energy importer to being an energy exporter. That is the vision I have for Clare, Limerick and Kerry. We should make energy something we produce and sell abroad, not something we invest in and just store. That is why I stand for the future and the Deputy stands for the past.

I am delighted the Tánaiste gave the little dig that I stand for the past. If he had been listening to my question or understood it, he would have heard me say the terminal could be repurposed at a future date, but he chose to ignore that.

When the Tánaiste speaks about An Bord Pleanála, he must remember it will always adhere to and look at Government policy, so he should not try to cod the people of Kerry or the people of Ireland by saying the Government is against it but at the same time that if the promoters get it in spite of the Government, then they will miraculously get it. The Tánaiste purposely chose to ignore the fact there were Fine Gael Deputies and councillors out there trying to cover over the mess the Tánaiste created for them, locally and electorally.

The one thing I want to take the Tánaiste up on was when he got in a little dig. He asked whether I understood the answer he gave to Deputy McDonald and others. I will say one thing clearly to the Tánaiste. When it comes to understanding the electorate and the people of Ireland and what they want and what they require, the people can look at the Tánaiste and listen to him or they can look at me and listen to me. Let the people decide who they think is more in tune with what the people of Ireland require.

Hear, hear.

Thank you, Deputy.

When I hear some of the nonsense the Tánaiste comes out with, my goodness-----

The Deputy is branching out.

The time is up.

-----he is no man to look down his nose at me as if I am something he stood up on top of.

The Deputy has gone national.

I am elected every bit as good as the Tánaiste is-----

Thank you, Deputy. The time is up.

-----and maybe a lot better than he is. The funny thing about it is that I would not dare to look down my nose at the Tánaiste or anyone else because I do not do that, but maybe he does because he is a bit of a big shot.

Thank you, Deputy. Please now, the time is up.

Like I say, off with you with the airy fairies and see how far it will get you. But you can be sure of one thing, it is not a nice thing to look down your nose at me and say what you said to me a while ago. Not nice.

And it is not nice what you said to me either, Deputy, just there, quite frankly. Reflect on it and think about it. Just think about what you said.

Hear, hear.

Think about what you said.

I know exactly what I said.

No. Please now.

Reflect on it, think about it and come back here tomorrow or the next day and take it back, if you want to.

The truth is the Deputy looks down on me. The Deputy thinks that because I am from Dublin, I am middle-class and I do not talk the way the Deputy talks and I have the accent I have, somehow I do not understand real people but he is wrong. I am elected just as much as the Deputy is. Everyone in this House has a mandate. We have a mandate because real people elect us. That is precisely why we stand here.

I know as well as Deputy Michael Healy-Rae does that he had the opportunity to serve in government. I was there in 2016 when the opportunity was there for the Deputy to serve in government and for him to be a Cabinet Minister but the Deputy turned it down. The truth is the Deputy would rather come in here-----

That is not true.

The Deputy would rather come in here and make personalised digs about people in government than make hard decisions that might cost him a few votes in Kerry.

Is it something the Tánaiste cannot realise right here?

Please, Deputy.

If the Deputy entered Government as an Independent, he would have to make hard decisions and just like every Independent who enters Government, he would lose votes. That is why the Deputy runs a mile from Government and that is exactly what the Deputy did in 2016.

The Tánaiste is misleading the House.

Thank you, Tánaiste. The time is up.

Finally, to address Deputy Michael Healy-Rae's point, as I said, there is a planning application extant on this particular terminal. If it is the case that it can be repurposed for hydrogen, that adds merit to the proposal, but that is something that is disputed. It is not as straightforward as using the same pipes and the same silos and containers for hydrogen as is the case for natural gas. That is one of the issues An Bord Pleanála will have to consider.