Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for being late. This issue is of interest to most people here and much of it is scientific. My first question is to ask the officials from the Department to make a comment on seismic testing. I did not have much knowledge of seismic testing until I started to read about it. What it does in seeking to find the precious resources of this country is damning. Licences and the history of oil exploration in this country, if I may be excused the pun, are a very murky business. Communities have been superseded by vested interests. I ask the witnesses from the Department to comment on this.

Why are the detractors of the Bill against it? The vast majority of people here and globally know oil production and consumption are unsustainable. The way capitalism consumes natural resources is unsustainable. Alarm bells ring with regard to companies involved in oil exploration. It could be a cliché, but there are many vested interests and a great deal of money to be made in oil and natural resources. The wealth and profit from these natural resources do not normally go back to working people. They are usually creamed off by 1% of these companies. Why are people against a Bill that puts the environment before profits?