Mr. Eddie Mitchell:

As a Leitrim person, I thank the joint committee for its work in scrutinising the fracking ban. We are very aware in County Leitrim that we live in a gas basin. Our neighbours in County Fermanagh are again being subject to a licence application that may lead to fracking.

Prior to 2011, silent policy on fracking allowed the Government to avoid high level assessments of the cumulative impacts of exploiting shale gas. Unfortunately, this is happening again with fracked gas imports. The health of people who warned us about the harms of fracking in North America is at risk if we create a demand for fracked gas here. From 2017 on, we knew that the United States planned to export its gas and take a 15% stake in the global LNG market. It was talking about lending Europe its gas until we got over our fear of fracking. Knowing this and seeing renewed interest in the Shannon LNG proposal, we became concerned and began engaging with people in counties Kerry and Clare. President Juncker and President Trump announced a deal to bring what the latter called "freedom gas" to Europe in July 2018.

The public is becoming aware of this plan to import fracked gas into Ireland through the Shannon Estuary and Cork Harbour, mostly because of awareness-raising by environmental groups. Anytime we alerted the Department to our concerns about fracked gas imports, we were told that the origin of the gas was a matter for the operators involved. The Government would not acknowledge that the proposals to bring LNG into Ireland would introduce fracked gas into the energy mix here. The planned Shannon LNG terminal alone has the capacity to satisfy half the current Irish demand for gas.

People are entitled to have a say in whether fracked gas is introduced into the energy mix. This is acknowledged in the Lisbon treaty, in which we retained our right to determine choices between different energy sources. No project can remain on the LNG list without the permission of the member state in which it is being constructed. Last Friday we believe the Minister, Deputy Bruton, approved Shannon LNG's inclusion in the draft projects of common interest, PCI, list. This decision sets the framework for developing consent. The decision was taken without discussion of public policy on fracked gas in the Irish energy mix. Major energy infrastructure needs public support. To be successful, a project needs a social licence. Prioritising trade over the climate through silent policy is not prudent and needs to be stopped.