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

I have at least two for Professor Seneviratne, or at least one big one. I will try not to go on about it for too long. She refers to "human-induced global warming" a great deal in her submission. She repeats that phrase all the time. I want to ask her a direct question that will help us a lot as parliamentarians. I brought forward a Bill - I hope it will go through Parliament - to end the issuing of licences for offshore fossil fuels exploration. It has met great opposition from the oil industry and vested interests. Ireland does not have oil tycoons in the same way as Iraq or Saudi Arabia, because we do not have big oilfields. However, the head of Providence Resources, Tony O'Reilly Jnr., recently levelled the accusation that the Bill is short-sighted in nature and makes no sense. He said it would force Ireland to turn its back on its own hydrocarbon potential. Earlier, I noted feeds on Twitter concerning a website for business people - proactiveinvestors.com - which states that Ireland's great opportunity is now closer than ever as new drilling comes into view.

If one drills down into that, so to speak, what they are proposing is a partnership with China on further oil exploration off the Irish coast. On a national and a global scale, do the witnesses believe it is wise for a country like Ireland to ban further exploration of fossil fuel given that if we manage to do it, we would be the fifth country, including France, to declare a ban on issuing more licences? The witnesses ended their presentations by stating it is not just a local responsibility but a global responsibility. We may not be very oil rich but it would be part of a global effort to deal with a very serious crisis. I would like the witnesses' opinion on that issue because I am very annoyed with the way the business class is responding to this Bill.