Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 9 October 2019

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action

Hydraulic Fracturing Exploration: Discussion

Mr. John McElligott:

That is not directly related to climate but concerns the idea of exclusion zones around tankers. It is a discussion for another day because we are talking about climate now. The statement relates to the development of the Shannon Estuary in the long term. It brings me back to the point I was really trying to make, which is that we all have great ideas for the Shannon Estuary but we need a strategic plan or policy. At an individual level, this might sound great for an individual project, but the issue is if there is no overriding policy to be implemented. There are different actors and interest groups with different takes on matters but this must be assessed in a strategic manner. That is why I return to the idea of the projects of common interest accreditation. In this case, the planning permission has expired and when a new application is made for a floating storage regasification unit, FSRU, it would already be predetermined that it would be in the national interest if it is on the PCI list.