130. Deputy Brian Leddin asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications to outline the Government's policy in relation to the development of infrastructure for the commercial import of LNG; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44643/24]

As set out in the Government’s ‘Policy Statement on the Importation of Fracked Gas' the government does not support the importation of fracked gas. Ireland is committed to halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and becoming carbon neutral by 2050. In future, most of our energy needs will be met by renewable energy which will be the anchor of our energy security.

The sole consideration by this Government of Liquified Natural Gas facilities is in the context of energy security. The Government does not support the commercial import of LNG as the development of infrastructure for the commercial import of LNG would be inconsistent with the decarbonisation trajectory established under the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act, as amended.

The Government policy in relation to energy security is set out in 'Energy Security in Ireland to 2030' report which was approved and published in November 2023. The report determines 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 Liquified Gas Facility 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.

Gas Networks Ireland are undertaking a detailed analysis of the strategic gas emergency reserve. In parallel my Department are developing the appropriate policy and legislative measures to ensure the facility would provide the resilience to our energy system in a manner that:

does not inadvertently increase gas demand by increasing the supply available on the market;

is compatible with the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act and

does not support the importation of Fracked Gas.

This work is continuing as a matter of priority; however, it requires additional analysis before returning to Government.

The reasons that additional analysis is required are that a number of factors which informed the original proposal have changed. These include the anticipated timescale delivery of a gas reserve, the impact of interconnection and the potential for further interconnection, the rapid development and installation of batteries and other energy storage, and the new, more ambitious 2040 climate targets being proposed by the Commission. Therefore I have asked my Department to commission analysis on these and on other relevant factors including the potential to rely on oil-fired generation at Moneypoint, increased distillate storage at or connected to existing gas generation, and regulatory moves to transition from gas.

The alternative approaches to energy security solutions could provide significant longer term economic, climate, and security benefits that a floating regasification and storage unit would not provide.

I have asked my Department, when the analysis is available, to make it public for consultation in light of the importance of public participation in environmental decision-making and our commitments in that regard in the Aarhus Convention.