Development (Strategic Gas Reserve) Bill 2026: Committee and Remaining Stages
Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-16
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Alice-Mary Higgins (IND), National University of Ireland

I move amendment No. 15:
In page 11, between lines 26 and 27, to insert the following:
“ Ownership and Operation
7. (1) The designated strategic gas reserve, including any terminal, infrastructure, or facility developed under this Act, shall remain exclusively in public ownership and under State control and shall not be transferred or outsourced, in whole or in part, to any private commercial entity.
(2) The facility shall be operated solely by a designated public body for emergency energy security purposes and shall not be utilised for commercial trading of gas supplies by any private enterprise.
(3) The Minister shall not direct, permit, or authorise any send-out of gas from the designated development unless the Commission for Regulation of Utilities has formally certified to the Minister that—
(a) a gas supply emergency exists that cannot be resolved by standard network balancing, and
(b) all Large Energy Users operating within the State have been curtailed to mandatory, pre-defined minimum operational electricity and natural gas consumption thresholds.
(4) For the purposes of this section, the pre-defined minimum thresholds shall be prescribed by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities.”.

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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