Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their presentations and their attendance. I do not want to belabour the fact that there are no costings. Ironically, this is the Committee on Budgetary Oversight but we cannot do much oversight when there are no numbers in the document. I welcome the fact that we have a plan and realise our views on parts of the plan may differ.

The Department very much backs this plan. Today, however, on the Department's website there is a notice about applications to consent to conduct a survey for fossil fuel companies in the south west and one can see that there have been ten applications since last December. Will the rhetoric in the plan be matched by action? Will the Department change course and stop issuing licences for fossil fuel exploration? We have just spent the last hour talking about how we need to electrify and decarbonise the environment and our transport fleet. Has the Department changed its view of the legislation that seeks to end the practice of drilling for fossil fuels that is before this House? Will the Department continue to oppose the legislation?