April 2023

Dear Minister Ryan,  

We are deeply concerned about the recent article published in the Sunday Business Post on April 9th, which suggested that Green Party policy banning fracked gas terminals may be reversed, and we are calling on you to confirm that this is not the case.

An Bord Pleanála is currently awaiting your policy response to the outcome of the forthcoming energy review, before it rules on planning permission for the Shannon LNG US fracked gas import terminal.

We remind you of the following:

• In October 2019, you told the Dáil: “This [Shannon LNG project] is a climate change issue of the first order.  This government, if it wants to show its climate leadership should stop this project now".

• The 2020 Programme for Government stated: “As Ireland moves towards carbon neutrality, we do not believe that it makes sense to develop LNG gas import terminals importing fracked gas. We do not support the importation of fracked gas and shall develop a policy statement to establish that approach”.

• In June 2020, you tweeted: “.@SafetyBeforeLng rest assured, if we can agree to the #PFG [Programme for Government] we will implement the policies which will see an end to the importation of fracked gas via any LNG terminals in Ireland.  We've better energy alternatives available & for everyone's sake we need to #keepitintheground”.

• In May 2021, on behalf of the Irish government, you published a historic World’s First policy against the importation of fracked gas and stated: “Fracked gas causes environmental damage both locally where it is extracted and globally and Ireland, having banned its exploitation onshore, should not impose these environmental risks on other communities around the globe. I remain as determined as ever to halt the damage caused by fracking and will pursue all opportunities at a European level and also at an international level to do so”.

• In October 2021, 76 Irish politicians joined over 1,500 people objecting to a new planning application lodged by Shannon LNG at An Bord Pleanála on planning, climate-mitigation, public health, environmental-protection and human-rights grounds. You also wrote directly as Minister for Energy to An Bord Pleanála stating “I wish to make it very clear that the permitting of this project would be in direct contravention to Government policy and therefore it should not, under any circumstances, be permitted”. 

These statements highlight the importance of holding the line of the current agreed government policy against the importation of fracked gas to Ireland. 

The war in Ukraine and the Nord Stream pipeline bombing are not reasons to import fracked gas, especially in the face of the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Report which clearly states that “the continued installation of unabated fossil fuel infrastructure will ‘lock-in’ GHG emissions”. Your department commissioned the detailed research carried out by CEPA to inform the Energy Review you are now deciding on. The publication of this research was delayed to consider the full impacts of the war in Ukraine and especially the impact of a full suspension of all Russian pipeline exports of natural gas to European markets on Irish security of supply. A commercial LNG terminal, such as proposed by Shannon LNG, was still specifically ruled out as one of the preferred options in the scenario we now have with the destruction of the Nord Stream pipeline.

In light of the Sunday Business Post article, we call on you to confirm publicly and without delay, that you will honour the commitment you made to the Irish electorate - to implement a policy of banning fracked gas imports via any LNG terminals in Ireland.

Yours sincerely

See the full list of signatories:  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AxkPMyMh83L0yaMwtN2a5FDblfCM7v6iM-1Fc9RWdKY/preview