Natural Gas Grid
Dail Éireann — 2024-10-15
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Paul Murphy (PBP), Dublin South-West

I am sorry but that does not assuage any of my concerns. Oisín Coghlan is chief executive of Friends of the Earth, which is not the wing of the environmental movement that is most critical of the Green Party. It has sometimes spoken positively about the party's record in government. Oisín Coghlan has said:
You don’t legally designate something you oppose, or aren’t sure we need, as strategic! The contradiction is so absurd it feels like the Government is gaslighting us.
He goes on to say that if facilitating an LNG import terminal getting approval is the last thing the Government does, the legacy of the Greens in government will be in tatters. That is the truth. That is the reality. The arguments the Minister has made about it do not give me any confidence. For example, in response to the earlier question, the Minister said that a way could be found to ensure that only non-fracked gas is imported. He keeps citing the Government's policy statement. That statement is very clear that there is no legal way of doing that under current EU law. It sets that out. Will the Minister outline how this is going to be done without EU laws being changed?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2024-10-15/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:53:21+00:00
Sitting date: 2024-10-15