Dr. Matthew Crowe:

We are very happy to be here to help the committee with its deliberations in whatever way we can on the report and the Bill. As our statement is available to all members of the committee I will pick out a couple of points.

The EPA's licensing role is relevant to this work and that is why we were involved in this research. Onshore extraction of gas, if it were ever to happen in Ireland, would require a licence from the EPA. We also have a research role as the national co-ordinator of environmental research in Ireland. We have a broader role in respect of environment reporting which is relevant to the broader issue and I am happy to discuss that issue in respect of climate change and carbonisation if that is helpful to the committee. The opening statement gives the history and context of the research, which I will take as read.

The overall aim of the programme and the questions we were asked to address are set out on page 4 of the statement. It is some time since the terms of reference for the joint research programme were drawn up and it is easy to forget what the purpose of the research was when we set out to do it. Now that it has concluded we should consider its overall aim when the work commenced. It was originally intended to happen in two phases. The phase one work is complete, the reports have been published and are available on the EPA website and the phase two work did not commence. The EPA has no plans now to do further research in this area in light of the decision of the Oireachtas in October 2016.

The EPA did not do the research, it funded it. As a director of the EPA, however, I have read the summary reports which are available to anyone who wants to read them. It is clear to me from reading them that the research was independent, objective and extremely thorough. Many people with a range of expertise and backgrounds were involved and contributed to the work through the consortium, the steering committee and the technical review groups. This shines through the reports.

Two answers emerged from the research. Notwithstanding that the baseline monitoring intended to happen as phase two did not proceed, the research has gone a long way towards answering the two questions originally asked of the research. As Mr. Collins pointed out, the research raises questions to be answered. The research also makes clear that these issues should be resolved prior to any authorisation of hydraulic fracturing.

While the research poses specific questions, as always happens, there is added value from the work, for example, the lifecycle assessment approach to this technology and some of the work done on health impact assessment. These will have broader implications and use for regulators and those involved in the environmental protection area.

Overall, I am satisfied that the EPA and its joint research programme partners have provided very good value for money to the State. Ireland is somewhat unique in having taken such a precautionary approach to unconventional gas exploration. We are one of the few countries where it has been decided to do the research, to consider what baseline monitoring needs to be done in advance of allowing there to be exploration or extraction. That is something to be proud of. In time, the work may be seen as a good case study in the application of the precautionary principle in practice and evidence-based policy making supported by independent research. I also pointed out that the work was very controversial and generated a lot of public interest and engagement, particularly in the two studies. The public sector can learn from that how best to involve and engage local communities in decisions that can have a very direct impact on the quality of their lives, their health and wellbeing. On the broader issue, as we start to figure out what we are going to do about the challenges of climate change, engagement with communities will be very important.

We are very happy to answer any questions the committee might have. If it has questions we cannot answer we will get the information to the committee as soon as we can after this meeting.