The government\u2019s vague stance on a commercial liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility is no longer acceptable or viable, according to Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore.<\/p>\n
Deputy Whitmore, who is the party\u2019s energy spokesperson, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s\u00a0a damning indictment of the government that An Coimis\u00fan Plean\u00e1la has had to write to the Minister for the Environment asking him to clarify official State policy ahead of a decision on Shannon LNG\u2019s planning appeal.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had also called for clarity on this issue months ago, but there has been no meaningful engagement from Minister O\u2019Brien since.<\/p>\n
\u201cGiven the government\u2019s continued ambiguity on commercial LNG, it is welcome that the minister\u2019s bluff has now been called by the planning commission. This represents the only real chance of finding out where the government stands.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government cannot continue to speak out both sides of its mouth on this issue, on one hand planning to spend hundreds of millions on State-owned LNG infrastructure, while being vague on similar plans by private companies.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe lack of a clear policy appears to be intentional. By avoiding a firm position on commercial LNG, the government leaves the door open to facilitating it in the future.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe should not have to rely on An Coimis\u00fan Plean\u00e1la to determine the government\u2019s policy on such an important issue. Before summer recess, there must be statements in the D\u00e1il on LNG \u2013 and full accountability from the minister.\u201d<\/p>\n
July 1, 2025<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The government\u2019s vague stance on a commercial liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility is no longer acceptable or viable, according to Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore. Deputy Whitmore, who is the party\u2019s energy spokesperson, said: \u201cIt’s\u00a0a damning indictment of the government that An Coimis\u00fan Plean\u00e1la has had to write to the Minister for the Environment asking […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":12688,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[405,539,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climate","category-energy","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n