Minister O’Brien publishes Ireland’s first Sustainable Aviation Fuel Policy Roadmap
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From: Department of Transport
- Published on: 21 August 2025
- Last updated on: 21 August 2025
Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien has today published Ireland’s first Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Policy Roadmap, as committed to under the Programme for Government.
The aviation sector faces a particular challenge to decarbonise. The development and deployment of SAFs will play a crucial role in helping us reach our decarbonisation goals, which will enable our aviation industry to operate and develop in a sustainable manner.
To assist in the development of the Roadmap, the Department of Transport established the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Task Force in December of 2023, bringing together key stakeholders with responsibility for, and interest in, policy development and implementation in relation to SAF.
The Roadmap represents an important first step in developing Ireland’s national SAF policy, identifying a number of actions which will be built upon in future iterations, and setting a path for future SAF policy development.
“I am delighted to officially launch Ireland’s first Sustainable Aviation Fuel Policy Roadmap. Publication of this Roadmap represents the realisation of a clear commitment in our Programme for Government. The Roadmap recognises the important contribution that Sustainable Aviation Fuel can make toward decarbonising the aviation industry and it aims to provide the building blocks for the deployment of Sustainable Aviation Fuel in Ireland.”
Minister for Transport, Darragh O'Brien
The Roadmap is available on our website here.
Notes:
- Development of a SAF Policy Roadmap is a commitment in the Programme for Government.
- The global approach to decarbonisation of the aviation industry is based on the International Civil Aviation Organisation ‘basket of measures’ which identifies four pillars from which reductions are to be realised. These are aircraft technology improvements, operational improvements, increased development and use of SAFs, and a global market-based measure known as the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation.
- SAFs are a ‘drop in’ fuel. This means that they can be blended into fossil-based aviation fuels and can be used in existing aircraft without modification. SAFs are considered sustainable because they have lower lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions compared to traditional fossil-based jet fuels.
- In late 2023, the Department of Transport commenced work on developing Ireland’s first SAF Roadmap, including the establishment of a Task Force to help identify opportunities/barriers for Ireland in relation to SAF.
- With the assistance of the SAF Task Force, wider bilateral engagements, and aligned with guidance on best practice from the European Civil Aviation Conference and the International Civil Aviation Organisation, the Roadmap identifies opportunities and barriers for Ireland in relation to aviation fuel suppliers importing SAF, and exploring future potential production opportunities, taking existing national and EU policies into consideration.
- The Roadmap sets out four SAF Policy Pathways to advance:
1. Market certainty
2. Collaboration;
3. Supporting uptake; and
4. Supporting production. - For each pathway, the Roadmap sets out a direction of travel and a number of actions to progress, that build upon a suite of EU initiatives. These actions are initial steps and will be built upon in future iterations of the Roadmap.