Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Is the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government not responding to this matter?

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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No, I am taking it.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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With all due respect to the Minister of State, I am sorry that the Minister, Deputy Hogan, is not present because he will be taking the decision on the Providence Resources foreshore licence. My appeal is to him in the first instance but also to the Government more generally to reject the Providence Resources foreshore licence application to drill for oil or gas in Dublin Bay.

It has been suggested that those who are concerned or opposed to the drilling live in Dalkey and the immediate vicinity of the proposed drilling. I want to emphasise that this is an issue for the whole of Dublin Bay and has wider national ramifications in terms of environmental, public consultation and planning issues, as well as the management of this country's natural resources.

The proposed drilling is to take place 6 km off Dalkey. Even Providence Resources admits there would be potential for oil spills. The Government has to understand if there was an oil spill that close to the coast the whole of Dublin Bay would be contaminated within hours. There would simply be no way to prevent the oil coming ashore. As I understand it, it will not be the responsibility of Providence Resources to prevent that happening, rather it would be the Irish Coast Guard. We would have no chance of stopping major contamination of the entirety of Dublin Bay, given the proximity of such oil drilling if the project goes into production as an oil well.

That is a risk too far for Dublin Bay. Any economic advantages that we might hope to derive from producing oil or gas would be completely outweighed by the environmental damage that would be done to one of the most important natural amenities in this country and the most important natural amenity in Dublin. It could ruin tourism, the marine environment, our beaches and our natural heritage and do all sorts of damage which makes the risk too great to take.

One might consider taking that risk if there was some significant economic advantage. I would not take the risk, but some people who are desperate, given the current economic climate, might think it is a risk worth taking if the State got something back in terms of jobs and revenue. Such is the licensing arrangement in this country that we will get virtually nothing back.

The company is allowed to write off 25 years of previous losses and capital costs before tax kicks in on any profits it would make. Given the fact that Providence Resources is partnered by an Malaysian multinational, there would also be the opportunity of transfer pricing of costs incurred elsewhere in the multinational which means that virtually nothing would come back to the State. The only beneficiaries would be Providence Resources and a Malaysian multinational.

In these circumstances, there is simply no case whatsoever for allowing drilling close to the coastline in Dublin Bay. In Norway, no oil drilling takes place closer than 25 km to the coast. Wherever there is oil drilling, there is a public inquiry. The Government is refusing to grant a public inquiry on this licence. In Norway, the state gets 70% of the profits and revenues from oil production, while we will get next to nothing. I appeal to the Minister of State not to take risks with Dublin Bay, reject the foreshore license application and, at an absolute minimum, give us a public inquiry before any decision is made to grant such a licence.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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I apologise on behalf of the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Phil Hogan. He was not able to be here to reply to the debate. I will convey the views of the Deputy, of which he is aware, to him. I thank the Deputy for raising this matter for debate.

Primary policy responsibility for the exploitation of offshore natural resources, including the tax regime applicable to such projects, is a matter for the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. Such projects are subject to a number of statutory consents under the Gas Acts and the Petroleum and Other Minerals Development Act. Projects involving works within the 12 nautical mile outer limit of the foreshore are also subject to consent under the Foreshore Acts.

The Department received an application from Providence Resources for a foreshore licence in respect of site investigations and the drilling of an exploratory well off Dalkey. I am advised that this is the first such application under foreshore legislation for this type of project. Notice of the application was published in the press on 5 January 2012. The notice provided details of how the application and accompanying information could be inspected and the means by which the public were invited to make submissions on the proposal.

The application and supporting information were available for inspection in hard copy at two Garda stations and are available electronically on the websites of the Department and the project proponent. The closing date for the receipt of submissions by the Department was 2 February 2012. In the order of 700 individual submissions, of which 350 are duplicates, and 4,100 submissions of the same online petition were received by the Department during the public consultation period. All submissions received have been published on the Department's website and have been forwarded to the applicant inviting its response to the issues raised.

The licence application will be the subject of an environmental assessment by the scientific and technical advisers on the marine licence vetting committee. Their assessment will involve a detailed examination of the application, related information and issues raised in submissions received from the public and prescribed bodies, and the applicant's responses to those issues. I expect the environmental assessment will consider, inter alia, potential impacts on European sites, sensitive species, other legitimate uses within the area the subject of the application and navigation issues.

A determination will be made on the application in due course, taking account of the recommendations of the marine licence vetting committee and the Department. Should the project progress to commercial exploitation, it would be the subject of further formal applications for consents from the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, in the first instance, and then An Bord Pleanála under the Planning Acts, and a full lease or licence under the Foreshore Acts, all of which will require the submission of an environmental impact statement and environmental impact assessments by the relevant consent authorities.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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That is all too late. Now is the time to act. If Providence Resources discovers oil or gas in any significant quantities it is unprecedented for any company in that situation not to be allowed to go into production. In reality, this matter will be decided on this application. Normally such applications are not allowed.

Countries like Norway, where best practice is followed, simply do not allow drilling for oil or gas close to coastlines. The public consultation process that went into this application was pathetic. Providence Resources must have had years to prepare its application. The public only found out about it because local residents groups in Dalkey, Protect Our Coast and Save Our Seafront, rang the alarm bells and public meetings were called at very short notice to inform people they needed to make submissions.

It was only in the immediate area of Dalkey and Dún Laoghaire that people had time to do that. People in Sandymount, Ringsend, Clontarf, Fairview and Greystones were not informed of the application even though they would be directly affected if there were any damaging environmental consequences. For that reason, there should be a proper public inquiry so that every stakeholder and resident in the Dublin Bay area is given an opportunity to have his or her say.

Best international practice is that one does not allow drilling so close to the coast. There is always a public inquiry, drilling takes place at safe distances out at sea and the state gets a proper share of the revenues. None of those criteria is in place. Therefore, there is no reason to take this risk or allow the licence to proceed. I appeal to the Government to reject the foreshore licences, establish rules that will safeguard our environment and have proper public consultation and management of natural resources in the future.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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I have already outlined the consultation process to the Deputy. There has been a large number of responses.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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That is because of us.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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As well as those responses, the application has been referred to standards prescribed by the consultees. These include the Marine Institute; the Marine Survey Office; the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority; Inland Fisheries Ireland; and the National Parks & Wildlife Service. As well as that, because of the nature of the proposal it has also been referred to Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, Wicklow County Council, the Dublin Port Company, the Dún Laoghaire Harbour Company and the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources.

A wide range of bodies are being consulted on the licence and there has also been a major public reaction. The Deputy has made his voice heard very clearly. I will convey his concerns to the Minister, Deputy Hogan. The various submissions are being considered, including those by the various bodies to which the application has been referred.