Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I offer my support to the people of Dublin. They now realise what the people of the west have put up with for a long time as five of my constituents are in prison for fighting for their rights. People should not go to the new prison to fight for their rights but should go to Mountjoy if they have to.

I raise this matter on the Adjournment because five innocent men are in prison on a health and safety issue. I shall speak on three aspects of the matter one of which is that we gave away our natural resources to an English company which probably will never pay a cent in tax here. I shall not speak about the former Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Deputy Fahey, because I hope he will come into the House some day and explain his role in this whole project. People thought there would never be a tribunal of inquiry here. There have been tribunals of inquiry and there will be more because many questions remain to be answered on this matter.

I ask the Minister and the Government to immediately step in and ask Shell, which has had great co-operation with the Government, to collapse the injunction. The Taoiseach met Mr. Andy Pyle, managing director of Shell in his offices in September 2003 but to this day we do not know what was discussed. The then Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Deputy Fahey, opened the door for Shell on many occasions and Mayo County Council opened the door on many occasions for Shell and Mr. Pyle. The only door the Minister and his colleagues opened for my five constituents was that of Mountjoy Prison.

Members of the Dáil and Seanad flew out to Colombia when three Irish citizens travelled on illegal passports and were arrested in that country. I listened here, morning after morning, to Members asking what the Taoiseach and the Irish Government was doing about the case. While a delegation of Fianna Fáil TDs and Senators flew out to Colombia to do something for them, I did not see many Fianna Fáil Deputies in Cloverhill or in Rossport since the issue arose some months ago. I ask the Minister of State, the Taoiseach and the Government to ensure Shell suspends the injunction immediately to enable us to sit down with those who wish to resolve this problem. There are some who do not wish to resolve the problem.

While there were three other ways Shell could have brought the pipeline onshore it insisted on bringing it within 70 metres of the doors of these people, which would put their lives at risk. That is wrong. This is a health and safety issue. These people do not want the pipeline passing their doors. They want the gas but they do not want it to pass by their doors. Why should the people of Rossport and County Mayo have their lives put at risk when there is no gain for the people of Mayo. Not one town in the county of Mayo will get natural gas. It is a disgrace that a natural resource is being taken out of County Mayo and all it is getting in return is headaches and the danger.

We have listened to many speeches about dialogue. The Government has an opportunity to have some dialogue. I ask that the Taoiseach make a telephone call tomorrow to the managing director of Shell, Mr. Pyle, asking that it immediately suspend the injunction so that serious negotiations can take place to resolve this very serious problem. It is wrong that five men should spend so long in jail not having committed a serious crime. I accept they broke the law and I know the Judiciary had no choice but to put them into jail, but these men will immediately purge their contempt if Shell suspends the injunction and then the negotiations can be got up and running.

I would like to hear from the Minister of State what the Government has done either publicly or behind the scenes to resolve this issue. The Taoiseach has tried to get people out of jail in Colombia. What has he done for his own Irish citizens who are in jail having done nothing wrong? Given that many of the Minister of State's constituents come from that area I am sure he has been contacted by many to try to resolve the problem. Nobody wants to see innocent men in jail fighting for their land, their homes, their families and to feel safe in their beds at night. We all know that one can no longer believe any institution in the State because we have seen what has happened with tribunals of inquiry. Why should these people have to listen to anybody from outside the State?

I wrote to Lord Oxborough in the House of Commons who is a director of Shell. He told me he visited north Mayo, which is more than many of our Ministers did. Had he told us he would visit we would have had a hero's welcome for him. He was delighted to see the support of Mayo County Council and the Government. I would like to see the same support for my constituents who are in jail and I would like to see the issue resolved. I call on the Government to ask Shell to collapse the injunction.

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