Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Deputy Colreavy is correct. The accounting system is changed somewhat so that, other than straight pay, additional costs are spread over the different areas of the Department in line with some proportionality of the significance of each division.

As I explained, there are particular reasons that the Department is required to take external expert advice in this area.

The increase in the 2013 Estimate, as compared to the 2012 outturn, is accounted for by three different items. The first is the health and safety works being carried out at Avoca, an issue raised during a previous discussion of Estimates in the sub-committee. The second is the issue of remediation at Silvermines, which is regularly raised by colleagues in the House. The third element is the issue of mining compensation. Approximately €3 million has been approved in expenditure over three years for the necessary work at Avoca. Money was spent last year on safety work and monitoring at Silvermines, which has been a bugbear for some time.

It is difficult to answer Deputy Moynihan's question on the prospects for progress. There is certainly some excitement that there is more activity, which is good in itself. The rate of conversion of the licences that were granted in 2011 is also very promising. I believe seven or eight have been converted and a further two may be converted. This is significant as only 13 licences were awarded. While the Barryroe find is encouraging, more work will be required to establish if it is commercially extractable, as we all hope it will be. This issue has been in the public arena. The drilling being done off Dunquin is expensive. I understand approximately €200 million will be spent on drilling at that location. It would be a major fillip if it were to prove positive and a disappointment if it were to prove negative. The scale of drilling here is minuscule by comparison to what would be required for one to be able to definitively answer Deputy Moynihan's question. A rate of below two wells per annum for a dozen years is simply not sufficient to be able to state that it has been established that there is significant potential or otherwise.

We concluded the debate on the report of the Oireachtas committee last night. It is important that any decisions made on foot of the report will continue to facilitate enhanced prospectivity. It is vital that we increase the rate of economic activity offshore in terms of exploration and drilling. We will return to this issue at another forum.