Luke Flanagan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the delegation for the excellent presentation. They have done the country a service and made my job much easier as they collated facts that I would not have been able to put together on my own. The witnesses have answered many of the questions I had. I suggest that people take up the invite to consider the case of Dimock, Pennsylvania, and view it with Google Earth, which I am doing now. Some people may say water could be poisoned and the issue can be debated. Nevertheless, it cannot be debated that I am looking at an horrific and ugly landscape, and if a similar process goes ahead in Ireland, there will be no tourism in that part of Leitrim. It is a fact. I would not bring my kids on holidays to look at lumps of concrete.

I suggest that the witnesses look at that in Google Earth. If one views it in closely, one will see there is a lot in the area but if one widens the view, it just continues on and on. There is no debate that it is ugly and it will destroy tourism in north Leitrim. If there is any ambition to really develop a tourism industry there, we can forget about it if we do this. Perhaps in the future if somebody might be able to drill with one well, it would be perfect and we could consider it then. At present, however, this is not a runner.