Development (Strategic Gas Reserve) Bill 2026: Committee and Remaining Stages Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-16 ============================================================ Timmy Dooley (FF), Clare I thank both Senators for the amendments they are putting forward and the sentiment behind them. I will deal with the points about the emergency. The Government made it very clear that a decision was taken, based on a decision taken by the previous Government in November 2024. It looked to Gas Networks Ireland, a State entity, to bring forward a series of measures as a solution to the very real threat, albeit one we hope to never have to deal with. The then Government made very clear at that stage that this would not be a market play. It was not an injection point into the grid that effectively allowed for a competing entity to sell gas into the Irish market. If that was the case, we would have done it in an entirely different way. That was a very clear policy statement. The fact is that GNI will have ownership and control of the entity. As the Senators know, the piece of kit – effectively the ship – will be leased in. There are a number of these around the world and they move on. First, we are not investing in the kind of infrastructure that had been a feature of discussions in the past. Other sites were identified by corporate players outside of Ireland that saw opportunities on a commercial basis to use LNG as a tertiary source of gas supplied into the network. The State did not engage with that option. It looked at ownership and control. At the core of this policy decision, which the legislation is attempting to implement, is that this would be retained and owned by the State. It was not a market play or another opportunity to reduce the price of gas, etc. It was not about an additional quantum of gas being utilised. It was purely about the strategic reserve. That was at the core of the Government decision at the time. It was the core of the policy paper and it is still very much the case, as set out here. Senator Higgins is right that this legislation is about getting through the building of the facility. There will be further legislation in relation to its operation. The Senator asked me directly about an emergency. From my perspective, an emergency is in the event of a rupture to the gas supply. As she is aware, we have an adequate supply coming through two interconnectors from Scotland, but it is effectively North Sea gas. We have some gas coming from the Corrib reserve. That has six or seven years of supply left, so it is dwindling. I am not a scientist but where there are very significant reserves of gas, it tails off towards the end, so there is not the same rate of supply on a daily or monthly basis as when the reserve was at its full capacity. The Corrib reserve is going to peter out. Corrib gas is down to maybe 10% of what we utilise now. Senator Higgins is right that the previous Government, when we were in opposition, supported then Deputy Bríd Smith and others on ending licensing of further drilling for oil and gas because we just did not think there was a long-term future in it. I still do not think there is. I stand over that decision, yet I am able to explain the necessity that we have today, which is to give ourselves resilience in the event of something unforeseen happening to that reserve. I respectfully differ with Senator Higgins. I know all the Senators present have a long track record of campaigning on these issues but it is not the Government pivoting towards using more gas at all; it is quite the opposite actually. This is a recognition that we have to get to a better place, and we do. We can talk about sunsets, but the fact that it is a temporary facility in the first instance would send a very strong signal on what the policy is about. When we get to a point where we do not have to depend on it any more, it will be moved on to the next location. There will be some infrastructure on shore but it will be limited enough. That might cover the point. There were three issues. I have given my thoughts on the emergency. The commercial piece is very clear. This is managed by GNI in a non-commercial way. It is purely for storage. It is not meant to be an infusion of gas into the network in a market-sensitive way. That is not how it is going to play out. On the ownership piece, because GNI is a State entity, it is managing all of that. To me, that effectively answers the worries and concerns the Senators might have had in regard to those particular amendments. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-07-16/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:52:17+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-07-16