Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)

This would leave us 80% dependent on imports. Do people think the State should gamble as much as €20 million of taxpayer's money per well at odds of over 30:1? The remaining option left to the State is to license the private sector to undertake this risk and accrue the associated reward after a 25% tax take. The rationale behind the current terms is to encourage exploration in Irish waters. Despite the allegation that these terms are overly generous, there have been very low levels of exploration over the past 30 years. For example, this year no well will be drilled. That puts paid to Deputy Broughan's fourth option, of changing the terms and making them less attractive than they are at present.

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