Mr. Mark Griffin:

We have three onshore petroleum licensing options which were issued in February 2011, one to Tamboran Resources, one to Lough Allen Natural Gas Company Limited and one to Enegi Oil plc. The options gave the holder first right to an exploration licence and were valid for up to 24 months. I think the Minister of State made it very clear in the Dáil that there would be no further progress in this area until such time as the research programme initiated by the EPA, the Department and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency was completed. We expect it to be completed in 2016 at the earliest. Until such time as that work is done, there will be no further progress.