It is, but it is not an either-or situation. If €1 billion could sort it out with more batteries, wind or solar then that is the route we would be taking. We are investing very significant amounts of money in our electricity grid. This year, the State will put about €3.8 billion into EirGrid and ESB Networks to strengthen the grid to enable it to take more renewables. That will allow them to borrow about €18 billion, which will be spent between now and 2030. The State is making very large investments in our overall…

I thank the Senator. This amendment relates to the cost recovery mechanism that will apply to the strategic gas emergency reserve. The standard approach for cost recovery for security of supply measures and investments to meet EU regulations is through the existing regulatory framework and achieved over the lifetime of the asset. Identifying opportunities to minimise the potential impact of this cost on energy consumers is a key work stream of the project and is currently under way. The scope of this consenting leg…

As the Senators have identified, the amendments relate to the ownership of the strategic gas emergency reserve. The strategic reserve will be in the form of a floating storage regasification unit, which is the ship that we talked about. It is to be owned on behalf of the State by the system operator, Gas Networks Ireland, which Senators, and particularly those who are members of the committee, will be well familiar with. An application for development under the project-specific pathway provided for in the Bill is l…

I thank the Senator. From our perspective, the fact that the reserve is State-led and transitional in nature, meaning it is for emergency-use only, will ensure that it does not support increased gas consumption. That has been the kernel of the issue for us, with a view to minimising the impact of greenhouse gas emissions, as well as mitigating the risk of standard fossil fuel assets. I am being somewhat repetitive, but the single purpose here is to provide security. It is not about growing the use of fossil fuels. …

I thank the Senators and, as I have said, I recognise their bona fides and their good faith. Any application for approval to carry out designated development under this process will be subject to environmental impact assessment and appropriate assessment. Key features of this process are a public notice of an application and publication of the application, as well as public consultation on the contents of the application. Members of the public and designated authorities may also make submissions and observations as…

Maybe we will have Sinn Féin in at some stage and we will have a grand coalition.

I thank the Senators for the amendment. I would welcome having all of them in government as some stage. I have no doubt that they would find it challenging on occasion, maybe not as challenging as me because they would not have the firepower coming back at them to challenge them as well as they are doing to us on this occasion. The scope of this legislation is limited to what is necessary to allow an application to get through development and to get the consent to be submitted towards the end of 2026. This is criti…

I thought we were going to get a bigger reveal there.

While not wanting to sound repetitive, I will. Effectively, this is about the planning and permitting we need to get through to get the fast-tracking of the construction phase. The Bill coming through later this year is where that discussion can take place. I agree with the Senator that a good review can be welcome; there is nothing wrong with it. As to what the timing might be, we certainly will be looking at that. It was probably part of the discussions and if it was not, it will form part of discussions around p…

Again, this matter will be addressed in forthcoming legislation on the operation of the facility and those measures can be addressed as part of that. It is not drafted yet but as I said, there is an opportunity for the Senator to participate in the pre-legislative scrutiny and when it comes back to the House. However, I will not accept this amendment on the basis that I do not think it fits this legislation. However, it is an item for discussion under the operational piece.

I have met the National Inshore Fishermen's Association and other representatives of the inshore sector and I am aware of the challenges facing the inshore fisheries sector. I am taken by its resilience and capacity to manage through difficult times. I am fully aware of the concerns raised. However, Ireland's current €258 million Seafood Development Programme 2021-2027, which is co-funded by the Government and the European Commission under the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund, EMFAF, is the primary…

In my initial answer to the Deputy's question, I wanted to set out the parameters under which future decisions might be taken or any work done. I will continue to engage with Committee on Fisheries and Maritime Affairs in that regard. We have a clear policy position to support the inshore sector. That is why, by October of this year, there will be a total ban on trawling within the six-mile limit on vessels above 18 m to ensure the improved viability of the inshore sector. It is not as if the Government, the Minist…

The Berkery report will be published shortly. That report was guided by the exceptional crisis arising from the significant loss in quota as a result of the scientific advice of last year. That is the direct response. The Mulvey report was broad based. It set out to ascertain where the sector is at, so it had a different requirement from the Berkery report. I will set out what is happening at European level. An evaluation was done of the Common Fisheries Policy. Our preferred option is that we now move to a signifi…

I thank the Deputy for his question. I know of his particular interest in this area. I have met with him and some seaweed harvesters. Indeed, he and I have discussed this in the Seanad previously. I thank him for his advocacy on behalf of those people who are particularly impacted by this and I congratulate him again on his successful election back to this House, where I have no doubt he will make a significant impact as he has in the past, not least on this issue. Ireland's first non-statutory MPPS for all marine …

I want to make the Deputy aware that MARA has a statutory function. It is an independent regulatory authority. I would not be in a position, nor would the law permit me, to influence the work it does. In the adjudication of any licence application, it will have to follow the legislation as it stands and would not be minded to consider what we might be discussing in this House or what any future proposal might be. However, as I indicated to the Deputy, we want to bring forward proposals that would, insofar as possib…

I am thankful for the opportunity to respond to the strongly held views of many Opposition Members. There is a bit of divergence between some of them, and I must respect that. People's views are strongly held. We might argue over the detail. What I want to reflect about this Bill that the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and I have brought forward is that it is purely about energy security. Maybe we do not all accept it, but a lot of people in this House and in society generally accept that we need to transition away, for…

I reiterate that there is very little between our understandings of the negative or harmful impact that gas, whether it be natural gas, LNG or any form of methane, has on our climate and on the environment. As I set out in response to the other amendments, the Government has made it abundantly clear that we have to pivot away from the use of fossil fuels. We are doing so and have a strategy for doing so. It would be foolhardy in the extreme if, while pivoting away, we failed to recognise that we need a backstop of …

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 …

In line with the Deputy’s comments, I congratulate him on being so succinct in his points. He managed to do it in a relatively quick time. I will make a number of general comments. We have had a good debate across a lot of areas, many of which are not part of or subject to this legislation. This Bill is the first stage in addressing the energy security deficit that we have. It is an enabling piece of legislation to allow for the procurement of the necessary permissions. It sets out a timely way to do that by settin…

I am glad of the opportunity to address the House on the topic of passports which has been raised by my good friend Senator Crowe. I thank him for raising this issue. It is a really important issue of which I am very aware from a constituency perspective, as are most Members of this House. The passport service is currently experiencing a high level of demand for passports as citizens prepare for upcoming summer travel. Thanks to the operational and staffing plans of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the …