Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
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To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources with regard to the exploration companies drilling for oil off our coasts, his views on whether it is right and proper that the State should gain financially from a successful oil drilling exploration; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38315/12]

Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
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To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will review the deal with the international exploration companies who are seeking oil beneath Irish waters; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38817/12]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 981 and 994 together.

My core policy is to maximise the benefits to the State from exploration for and production of our indigenous petroleum resources, while ensuring that activities are conducted safely and with due regard to their impact on the environment and other land/sea users. While there have been some discoveries of oil off our coasts none have been declared commercial to date. The only commercial discoveries of gas are the Kinsale area fields which are currently in production and the Corrib gas field which is still in development.

The principal direct financial benefit to Ireland from successful exploration comes in the form of the tax paid on profits from petroleum production. The relevant tax provisions are set down in the Finance Acts and provide for a tax take of between 25% and 40%. There are no individual financial deals entered into with individual exploration companies. The tax terms, which were last revised in 2007, seek to strike a balance between the desire to maximise the financial return to the people of Ireland from successful exploration and the need to set the terms at a level that will encourage exploration companies to invest in exploration in the Irish offshore, taking account of the fact that such companies can also instead of investing in other countries which have experienced greater relative success in terms of the number of commercial discoveries made.