Development (Strategic Gas Reserve) Bill 2026: Second Stage Dail Éireann — 2026-06-25 ============================================================ Timmy Dooley (FF), Clare I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I am pleased to address the House on Second Stage of the Development (Strategic Gas Reserve) Bill. As Deputies are aware, the main purpose of the Bill is to provide for a project-specific, bespoke consenting pathway for the strategic gas emergency reserve facility to be located at Cahiracon in County Clare. This will enable a development consent application to be submitted later this year, which is critical to achieving accelerated delivery of this project. Before outlining the provisions of the Bill, I would like to speak on a number of key points relating to the development of the legislation. In March 2025, Government approved a State-led strategic gas emergency reserve. This is critical to securing Ireland's energy systems as we continue to transition to indigenous, clean renewable energy. Crucially, the strategic gas emergency reserve will also ensure Ireland's compliance with EU standards and regulation. A strategic gas emergency reserve is a State-owned gas storage facility that will provide the resilience required to support our energy transition. This State-led strategic reserve will store LNG for use only in the event of a disruption to gas supplies to protect Ireland's citizens, economy and reputation from the possibility of energy curtailments. It is not intended for commercial use and will not act as a new entry point for gas into the system. The final design will be scoped to provide sufficient supply to protect household and business customers in the event of a major disruption to subsea gas pipelines. Gas Networks Ireland will ensure appropriate contractual arrangements are in place to refill the floating storage and regassification unit throughout an emergency situation to provide consistent gas supplies via the floating storage and regassification unit for the duration required. The introduction of bespoke legislation was agreed following advice from the Office of the Attorney General's to reduce the uncertainty of the timelines regarding planning decisions and to facilitate the request from Government to expedite delivery of the project. The ongoing phased commencement of the Planning and Development Act 2024 at this time prevents the project benefiting from the required expedited decision timeframe to deliver this project. The conventional planning route under the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, has been fully considered and it is proposed to disapply it given the need for an expedited decision timeframe necessary to deliver this project. The legislation will allow for the next stage of development for the strategic gas emergency reserve. It is intended to submit the development consent application by the end of 2026 in order to achieve an accelerated project delivery timeline. It is intended to bring forward a memo for Government later this year requesting permission to draft the strategic gas emergency reserve (operational) Bill to provide for the operation of the strategic gas emergency reserve. This will be the substantive Bill addressing provisions related to the operation, use and cost of the reserve as well as a number of policy matters previously raised by Oireachtas Members. The Bill contains 7 Parts and 38 sections, and I will give a brief overview of it now. Part 1 contains four sections containing standard legislative provisions that cover the Short Title of the Bill, commencement procedures, definitions of terms used in the Bill, a regulation-making power, as well as enabling the expenses of the Minister to be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas. Part 2 contains three sections relating to what comes within the scope of designated development. Section 5 provides for what constitutes "designated development" for the purposes of development and use of a strategic gas emergency reserve to be located at Cahiracon in County Clare. Sections 6 and 7 provide that the Planning and Development Act 2000, the Planning and Development Act 2024, and Regulation 2 of the European Communities (Birds and Natural Habitats) Regulations 2011 are disapplied in relation to designated development, to facilitate the alternative consenting process set out in the Bill. Part 3 contains four sections relating to the seeking of approval to carry out designated development. It provides for a mechanism for pre-application consultation. The required contents of an application are specified as well as the requirement to give public notice of an application and details of the public consultation procedure. It sets out who may submit an application for designated development under this procedure, being limited to Gas Networks Ireland or such other public bodies as may be prescribed. Part 4 contains 17 sections relating to the environmental impact assessment and appropriate assessment procedures that will apply to an application for designated development. These assessments shall be carried out by An Coimisiún Pleanála within specified, accelerated timelines. It provides for a period of 18 weeks for a decision to be made by An Coimisiún Pleanála from receipt of an application to final decision. Time when An Coimisiún Pleanála is waiting for a return of further information by the applicant will be disregarded towards this overall time period. Part 5 contains three sections relating to the determination of an application for approval to carry out designated development. Part 6 provides for miscellaneous provisions relating to designated development granted approval under this bespoke process. Section 15 of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015 is disapplied to relevant bodies performing functions in relation to designated development. The Minister may also issue a direction to competent authorities responsible for the granting of relevant consents, to facilitate priority consenting of the project. The judicial review and access to justice provisions have been adapted from the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, retaining the well-tested framework that currently applies to a challenge to a planning decision in the courts. Part 7 contains one section relating to a consequential amendment to the Environmental Protection Act 1992. I commend the Bill to the House and I look forward to the debate and the contributions from Members. --- 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/dail/2026-06-25/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:54:51+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-06-25