Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

My question goes back to our recent Private Members’ Bill relating to fracking, which has gone through Committee Stage. A question arose relating to exploration at sea and whether it would apply.

My question is more specific. An example might arise in the Irish Sea. Let us suppose there was a seam of coal in a sub-sea area and someone was looking to extract it by various means. This might not necessarily involve a mine. One could use steam to gasify it or use other mechanisms.

In our discussions yesterday, we were considering onshore mining exclusively. An offshore coal seam might be extractable using unconventional methods that would not amount to fracking but could perhaps be steam-based recovery.

How would such a prospect be regulated? Is it a petroleum prospect licence or a mining licence or do we in any cases issue mining licences out in our sea waters?