The Deputy should be careful.

Sentiment score: 0.15

I thank Deputies for their contributions to the debate. The Government welcomes the considerations and contributions on this Stage. I look forward to what I think, based on what I heard, will be the Deputies' support in progressing the Bill through the House. The Gas Safety (Amendment) Bill 2026 will make crucial and long-sought changes to our regulatory regime for natural gas and liquified petroleum gas, protecting operators, customers and the public, which I think we all accept is paramount. I will try to respond to some of the issues I heard raised. I noticed an issue was raised throughout the debate that was identified back in 2016. The pre-legislative scrutiny was concluded in July 2024. I take on board, and the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, and I are concerned, that it took a long time. It is not acceptable and I certainly accept the points made. An issue of such importance should have progressed more quickly. That is why the Minister is adamant that the Bill will now get a fair hearing and move quickly through the Houses. A Deputy identified that it was published just last Friday. It is legislation of significant importance. Some peripheral issues were raised that are not directly related to the Bill. I am sure there will be other opportunities for Deputies to raise them again. I will concentrate on the important aspects. I accept, as I said, the concerns. There were issues with the costs. The reality is that when any new regulatory regime is brought in, there will be costs. However, the costs will not be borne by the State, but by the industry. That is the appropriate approach. Others have said, regardless of whether it is through levies or State funding, it is funded by taxpayer contributions, whether they are corporate or individual. However, in this case it is not an issue. The delays were not related to the CRU's lack of resources because the costs will be covered through levies on the industry. Deputy Heneghan talked at length about the broader issue of looking at the Government's commitment to become less dependent on gas. With our climate commitments, we are going through a transition phase where we need to move to electrification and the development of a biogas regime, and we are doing so at pace. While it has been slow in the early stages, the Government is progressing now. In early December last year, an auction took place for a 900 MW wind farm off the south-east coast. The previous Government moved away from a speculative approach to identifying sites offshore and into a plan-led phase. We did a designated marine area plan, DMAP, off the south-east coast, which has designated four sites, one of which has gone to auction with three will follow. I have responsibility for the next phase of that DMAP, which will identify suitable sites around the entire coast of Ireland that will get us to 20 GW by 2040. We are on target to deliver that designation by 2027 and we are committed to making sure it happens. I take on board the concerns of some about the cost of electricity. It is a marketplace and there is competitive tension. The regulator has a role. Deputy Healy-Rae said the Government should intervene with the regulator. The regulator is independent and answerable to the Oireachtas committee. This is one of only a few regulatory regimes where parliament has oversight, as opposed to the Government. I will go back to something Deputy Lawless said. It is important and I do not want to oversimplify it. However, it is the case that professionals move from one side of the fence to the other. We have to be careful not to ascribe to that professional movement from consultant to regulatory environment a conflict of interest. There is always potential for a conflict of interest and it is the responsibility of the chief executive of the local authority or of An Coimisiún Pleanála to assure themselves in that regard. I suggest that if the individuals have concerns, they address them to the chief executives of those authorities. For the Government to intervene, as Deputy Lawless suggested, would be an abuse and unlawful. The planning legislation is distinct. It is rigorous in this regard. It is regularly reviewed through judicial reviews in the courts and I do not believe there is a role for the Government in this. However, if the Deputy has concerns about the bona fides, he should share them with the authorities I mentioned. In saying that, it is important to note that Members of this House who hold Government positions now or who held them previously will go on to work in industry. There is a cooling-off period, and rightly so, but we have to be careful because such allegations have the capacity to malign or undermine the professionalism of individuals involved. As has already been outlined, the Bill provides a legislative response to a public policy problem posing safety risks to the public, namely, unlicensed LPG networks whose operators have fallen outside the regulatory regime to date. While the CRU has done important work to date in inspecting these undertakings and issuing improvement notices, this Bill brings such undertakings firmly into the licensing system. As Deputies have heard, the Bill accomplishes this through establishing a new LPG safety licence class 2, for operators making LPG available to fewer than ten piped distribution networks, for use by individual domestic customers. The new licence class is suited to the needs of smaller operators and applicants will face much lower application fees. Rather than preparing resource-intensive safety cases, class 2 licence-holders will be bound to adhere to safety requirements outlined by the CRU through regulation. This approach was arrived at following consultation with industry stakeholders as the fairest and most effective means of bringing hitherto unregulated operators into the licensing system. This speaks directly to Deputy Collins, for whom I have great regard and respect. Every time the Deputy contributes he seems to latch on to rural Ireland, which is part of his party's name. This is a recognition that not every regular scale operator in a rural area is of the same scale and complexity as one might be in a large area network in a more urban environment. The Government is taking cognisance of the needs of rural Ireland and, in this Bill, it is taking cognisance of the appropriate response, one that is proportionate to the risk that has been identified. It seeks to put in place a regulatory framework that gives protection to the greatest extent possible without creating an enormous regulatory burden that would make it exceedingly difficult or extraordinarily expensive if we just had a one-size-fits-all approach. By taking this proactive approach, it is a recognition of the needs of rural Ireland and not wanting to create a greater cost burden on those operators, most of which are highly trained and professional people. Of course, like any of us, there is a standard we have to adhere to. When it is there and it is monitored, operators tend to adhere to it. The Bill makes several important changes to the gas safety regime, which I will quickly reiterate. The gas safety framework, by which undertakings are licensed, is placed on a statutory footing, the CRU safety remit is strengthened through the introduction of a new class of LPG safety licences, and the definitions of natural gas and LPG incidents are broadened to include precursors to near-miss incidents or events. The CRU also acquires stronger powers to specify what is required of undertakings with regard to emergency responses. As Deputy Healy-Rae and others said, there is a recognition that we cannot be overly dependent on gas from the east. That is why the Government recently announced the positioning of a floating facility for LNG in the Shannon Estuary. It so happens to be in Cahiracon, which is in west Clare. It is a recognition that gas is a transition fuel and that we cannot move to electricity in one bang. That is going to take a protracted period. There will always be a need for gas or biogas. We must have a safety net and a backup to protect our hospitals, schools and industrial base. We cannot leave ourselves open to the risk of any disruption to the two existing interconnectors. We are already doing that-----

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-----and that is something that will come on board through Gas Networks Ireland. I am pleased we are making significant progress in that area. I am sorry I did not get to answer my good friend, Deputy Heneghan, but he and I will have a conversation again about the whole offshore piece in another forum I am sure.

Sentiment score: 0.49