Mr. Dara Lynott:

I will take the last point first.

The EPA does not have a role in issuing an exploratory licence. It is not intended as part of the research that exploratory drilling for hydraulic fracturing will take place. Rather, in the first task to which the Senator referred we have to carry out an assessment of how much information we have on groundwater in the area. To pull it back a little, the EPA has a role in assessing groundwater quality in Ireland. We report on a regular basis to the European Union on the quality of groundwater. As part of that process, the EPA has sunk wells all over the country to fill in knowledge gaps in order that we can obtain a national picture. However, for this type of research and particularly because it is focused on shales in counties Clare and Leitrim and parts of Northern Ireland we need more information on groundwater than we would need for a national programme. First, we need to ascertain how many groundwater wells are there, what state they are in and whether they are usable. Then, through the steering group, we propose having "X" number of wells. These wells will tell us where the groundwater is, its depth and volume, in what direction it is flowing and assist in obtaining an accurate, underground picture of the groundwater in the area. There is no exploratory drilling associated with hydraulic fracturing as part of this research. If there was to be exploratory drilling, the researchers would have to obtain a licence from the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, but that Department has stated there will be no exploratory drilling licences issued until the research has been completed. The expected date for completion of the research project is 2016. Once an application is made in respect of the commercial drilling of shale beyond exploratory stage, those involved will have to come to the EPA for a licence. At that stage we will have a regulatory role, but that is beyond this research period up to 2016 and exploratory licensing which will happen within a particular period of time. After the exploratory phase, if hydraulic fracturing is commercially viable as determined by those involved, they will have to come to us and a number of other regulatory agencies to go through the normal regulatory processes.

On the health implications, our view is that the issue of health is part of the study. As I said in my opening statement, the health impacts associated with pollution of environmental media are definitely part of the project. That means the level of air, water, vibration and noise pollution will be assessed as part of the project. It will also look at how a health impact assessment has been utilised in other countries in dealing with this type of project. We will have a fairly good handle on the health impacts associated with environmental pollution of the various media involved.

The Senator referenced CDM Smith, which is a very large consultancy firm. Like many large legal and accountancy firms, it has a lot of clients and provides advice on a wide range of issues. It is part of a much wider consortium which includes the Geological Survey of Britain, University College, Dublin, the University of Ulster and Philip Lee Solicitors, among others. In our tender we deliberately went looking for experience in this realm. The tender document stated: "The proposed project team is expected to include members who have comprehensive understanding of geology and hydrology, as well as an in depth knowledge of a range of legal, environmental, health, socio-economic and technical issues, as well as knowledge of mineral and fossil fuels (preferably unconventional gas) extraction practices and technologies". We looked for people with experience in this area, but we went through an open tender process which involved 27 people from 14 or 15 organisations in assessing six bids from various consortia to conduct this very important research valued at €1.25 million. That independent group came to the view that CDM and its consortium was the best. All of the consortium members were required to sign a conflict of interest form, which they did. We are happy that the group conducting this research is eminently qualified to carry it out and will do so in a peer-reviewed, independent manner and that the research will be fit for purpose.