Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I want to address a question Deputy Gino Kenny asked. He was trying to get at something with the Department which was not directly answered. He asked about seismic testing having read the recent report of the Marine Institute on the worrying impact of seismic testing on the mortality rate among zoo plankton. That has also led to a recent set of statements by the fishing industry as to its concerns about the impact on marine biology. It is grave. Deputy Kenny would like the Department to have said whether it had ever carried out an environmental impact assessment or forced a company to carry one out in respect of its exploration at sea. Has the Department carried out an environmental impact assessment on any oil exploration company project at sea?

While the Department is here, I want to ask about something Deputy Lawless touched on, namely, the ownership of the various exploration licences, leases and undertakings. Looking at the statistics presented by Dr. Slevin, why are some of these leases and undertakings being sat on for years and, sometimes, decades on end? Can the Department provide the committee with an explanation for that?