Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 10 October 2012

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications

Hydraulic Fracturing: Discussion

9:50 am

Photo of Paschal MooneyPaschal Mooney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am grateful to Mr. Ó hÓbáin and the officials of his Department. It is vital that the information provided for this committee is conveyed to the wider public because of the concerns expressed, particularly in the areas in which it is proposed to carry out hydraulic fracturing.

One of my questions relates to a comment made earlier about the licence application option, which is that at the end of February the existing licence holders must take a decision on whether to apply for an exploration licence. Tamboran Resources, representatives of which have chosen not to appear before the committee, indicated in a letter to it that the company was aware that a special study of shale gas had been initiated by the EPA which will report in about 12 months and until that time the company considered discussions would not be meaningful. It stated it did not believe it was productive to make detailed comment on project impacts until the requirements of the EPA and other regulatory agencies were defined. It stated its schedule was predicated on the EPA report and the strict regulatory and planning mechanisms that would be in place. It stated it expected the project would be allowed to advance at least to the test well stage once these regulatory and planning requirements were known, although it believed this was unlikely to be before 2015. In the light of that letter, does it mean its licence application will fall? It appears from the letter that Tamboran Resources will not be in a position by February to apply for an exploration licence because it is awaiting the outcome of further research. What are the implications of this for licence holders?

Also, Mr. Ó hÓbáin has pointed out that there are a number of EU regulatory regimes in place that will have an impact and be relevant to the final decision on this issue. A question was put by two Green Party Members of the European Parliament to the Directorate-General for the Environment last July and the reply stated that as part of its ongoing effort to determine whether the level of human health and environmental protection provided by the existing EU legislation was appropriate, the Commission had initiated work in order to assess by the end of 2013 whether there was a need for a risk management framework for shale gas developments in Europe, both at the exploration and commercial production phases and, if necessary, the form that it would take. What input does the Department have into these discussions with the Directorate-General for the Environment? Is it actively engaging with it in terms of what appears to be ongoing research and analysis as to whether the existing legislative framework in Europe will be sufficient? As the officials will be aware, several European countries have suspended or introduced a moratorium on shale gas exploration; therefore, this is a Europe-wide issue, not exclusively an Irish one. What input will the Department have into it?

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