Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Gannon for his opening statement.

I am mindful that the committee is here to undertake prelegislative scrutiny of the legislation that is before the committee. However, this legislation is about a serious safety risk as it deals with an explosive fuel, as Mr. Gannon rightly pointed out in his statement. We must take this seriously. I will digress from the conversation around the prelegislative scrutiny for a moment.

In Mr. Gannon's statement, he is clear to point out that the CRU is, in the absence of legislation and licensing, engaging with operators that fall outside the regulatory regime. That is very welcome. This committee heard from Department officials last week that no particular incident has driven this legislation and that this has been rolling for a number of years. Mr. Gannon referred to a complaint or an observation from a member of the public in 2016 which led, in time, to various consultation processes by the CRU. Can he reiterate the position that no particular incident is driving the timelines for this legislation? The public wish to be assured that everything that could and should have been done was done, prior to any particular tragic incident. The particular incident in Creeslough was referenced last week. There may have been other less tragic incidents, but serious ones nonetheless. It is important that the public is reassured that what we are seeing now is not a response and that everything was being done prior to that incident and any other similar incidents.