JUDICIAL REVIEWS AND planning woes for big projects are in the news a lot these days.

So perhaps it’s no surprise that government wants to fast-track its plans for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage unit in the Shannon Estuary.

Minister for Energy Darragh O’Brien has tabled legislation that means the planning application for a floating LNG unit will go directly to him, rather than to An Coimisiún Pleanála, the independent planning board.

He would also be in charge of permitting the associated jetty, pipeline and various onshore facilities.

In fact, the minister has been in such a rush that he wanted the Oireachtas Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy to waive pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft law granting him these powers.

The committee said no. However, it agreed to produce its report within a shorter than usual period of four weeks.

And so, committee hearings on the general scheme of the Strategic Gas Emergency Reserve Bill took place this week. Here’s what was said.

The Department

The minister’s officials set out some of the background.

The government agreed to go ahead with the gas reserve last March. It will be state-owned and store LNG for use only in the event of disruption to gas supplies. Eighty percent of Ireland’s gas is piped in from Britain – so if there’s a problem there, this new facility is intended to supply households and businesses.

Officials told the committee the facility won’t be for commercial use. Gas Networks Ireland would be in charge of refilling the storage unit if there is such an emergency.

As for this fast-tracking legislation, that was the Attorney General’s advice, to speed things up.

So, when the consent application is ready, which is expected to be late next year, Gas Networks Ireland will be applying directly to the minister. There won’t be the usual separate applications for planning permission, maritime area consent and pipeline consent – it’s all being rolled into one, along with applications for compulsory purchase order.

The middle man – An Coimisiún Pleanála – isn’t entirely being cut out of the picture. It will carry out environmental impact assessments.

All of this decision-making will happen on a short timeline. Why the rush? It’s because the government wants to protect against the “major consequences for our society and our economy that would arise” in the case of a serious gas disruption, the committee was told.

Locals

Residents of Kildysart, on the banks of the Shannon Estuary in Co Clare, told the committee they recognise the importance of energy security, but said “greater clarity and balance” is needed for nearby communities.

They raised a number of concerns they feel should be addressed to bring them into the tent.

They noted that the draft legislation mentions environmental impact assessments but does not explicitly require consideration of the broader economic impact on local communities.

“A project of this scale may affect tourism, local investment, property values, insurance, land use and the overall perception of an area,” they said.

Kildysart residents said that the duration of the deployment of the LNG facility is not specified. Is it a short-term contingency measure or a long-term installation? Communities need to know. 

They called for “statutory community benefit mechanisms”. (The developers of large projects are often required to pay into local community funds.)

The Kildysart residents expressed concern that there was no requirement in the bill for ongoing engagement with local communities.

Environmentalists

Environmental NGOs An Taisce and Friends of the Earth Ireland strongly oppose the project on climate grounds.

An Taisce said the almost €1bn project was “completely inconsistent” with Ireland’s legal climate obligations, which require a rapid decrease in fossil fuel consumption in Ireland.

An Taisce said that in practice, the project could require six top-up LNG shipments per year and a certain amount of gas to be sent out into the national network. 

Friends of the Earth argued that the government’s plan ties Ireland to volatile gas markets and creates long-lived fossil fuel assets whose consequences will continue beyond any short-term energy supply emergency.

It argued that an approach based on renewables, demand reduction, electricity storage and electricity interconnection would do the opposite – spreading risk and building resilience.

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The State's emergency gas reserve will be stored along the Shannon Estuary in Co Clare

Friends of the Earth criticised the fact that the government is trying to deem the development compliant with the Climate Act.

“Compliance cannot be legislated into existence. The courts are very clear that it must arise from evidence-based assessment. Deeming compliance in advance undermines environmental law…and raises serious constitutional concerns around separation of powers and access to justice,” Jerry McEvilly, campaigns director at Friends of the Earth told the committee.

The Supreme Court issued a significant ruling on the importance of the Climate Act in public decision-making this week.

The NGOs expressed serious concern at the government concentrating power in itself and bypassing planning processes. Friends of the Earth said this could erode public trust. An Taisce said the approach proposed raised the risk of unlawful decisions. It noted that the bill provides for fast timelines, which it said could lead to poor decision-making.

Even if the LNG facility is to go ahead, the centralised and accelerated planning process proposed by the minister should be dropped, An Tasice’s Aideen Ó Dochartaigh said.

Environmental lawyer Attracta Uí Broin also set out “serious concerns” about the risks posed by a “novel, parallel and unjustified planning and permitting proposal” centred on the minister. 

“These issues in the general scheme put at serious risk the ability to be able to deliver any such emergency gas reserve, leading invariably to delays, uncertainties and vulnerabilities to legal challenges in multiple fora and infringement proceedings,” Uí Bhroin submitted to the committee.

“These issues also expose the State to significant claims for State liability from economic operators consequent on such flaws.”

Heat pumps

The European Heat Pump Association warned that LNG is even worse for the climate than piped gas, as the liquefaction process, long-distance shipping and the process of turning LNG back into gas form to be used in the network are all extremely energy-intensive.

LNG markets are also inherently insecure and volatile, and very much subject to geopolitical risk, the association’s director, Paul Kenny, said.

Kenny was a policy advisor to former energy and environment minister Eamon Ryan during the last government.

He warned that the legislation must ensure that the new facility cannot be allowed to provide gas to plants for fuelling data centres.

Kenny also warned that international experience has shown that gas reserve units of this kind often transition to commercial operation over time. He said that if the facility is built, there must be strong legislation to ensure this can’t happen, and that it remains only for emergency use.