The Programme for Government contains a commitment to end the issuing of new licences for the exploration and extraction of natural gas on the same basis as the decision taken by the previous Government in relation to oil exploration and extraction. This commitment has been implemented by my Department and has been given statutory effect through the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021. Ireland sources roughly one-quarter of its gas from the Corrib gas field, and three-quarters via interconnector from the UK, which has diverse sources of supply. Both the UK and Ireland both have far less reliance on Russian gas than other European Countries. The UK’s gas supply comes from indigenous supplies, via pipelines from Norway, interconnectors with Belgium and the Netherlands and through imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
As production from the Corrib gas field declines, our import dependence on natural gas from the UK will increase in the near term.
In light of the Ukraine crisis, the European Commission is working closely with Member States to protect the resilience of Europe’s gas supply. The Commission is also actively engaging with other countries to ensure sufficient and timely supply of natural gas to the EU from diverse sources across the globe to avoid supply shocks, including those that could result from disruptions.
It is essential that we cut our dependence on imported fossil fuels, and power comes from our own indigenous renewable resources including wind and solar. Climate Action Plan 2021 sets an ambitious target to increase the share of electricity demand generated from renewables sources to up-to 80% by 2030.
