Dáil Éireann debate - Tuesday, 21 Mar 2023 Ireland23 Mar 2023 10:41
Leo Varadkar yesterday: We are not issuing any new exploration licences and have not done so for a number of years but there are existing ones which are still valid. Our view is that we will continue to need to use natural gas, perhaps for decades. Natural gas is a much cleaner fuel than coal, which we also use, and oil, which we use on occasion. It makes sense to see natural gas as a transition fuel. Indeed, the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, has signed off in recent weeks on the purchase of new gas turbines to guarantee energy security next winter. For so long as we are using natural gas as a transitional fuel, it makes sense to use it rather than to import it. More emissions arise from bringing gas in from other parts of the world than from using our own gas if we have it.
https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/2023-03-21/8/#spk_136