Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I am glad the men are out of prison and pleased they are at home with their wives and families. Many of the other residents of the area who were not in prison have been badly affected by this situation over the past number of years. Many families in the Rossport-Bellanaboy area have suffered and wished they never heard the word "gas". They have been frustrated by Shell, Enterprise Energy Ireland, Mayo County Council, the former Minister of State at the Department, Deputy Fahey, and the Government.

I want to go back to 2001 when the planning application came before Mayo County Council. I was one of the few members who spoke against it at the council. I will always remember the night when Enterprise Energy Ireland came into the council meeting and told us the wonderful things it would do for Ireland, County Mayo, Rossport, Bellanaboy and the people in Erris. A few weeks later, when it got the Queen's shilling from Shell, it was not long in selling the gas field to that company and forgetting the promises it made to the people of County Mayo.

Mayo County Council must shoulder much of the blame on this issue. In 2001 the planning application was granted by the council in very quick time. I recall that an official rang me to inform me of it at 5.05 p.m. on the Friday of the August bank holiday weekend. The permission was granted in this manner to frustrate the residents and the people objecting to it so that they would not have sufficient time to put their objections to An Bord Pleanála.

At the oral hearing, Mr. Kevin Moran, the inspector on behalf of the State, represented An Bord Pleanála. He listened to the concerns of the residents, the experts and everybody who was there and made the decision that the project was not fit for Erris. He opposed the second application that was made because, according to him, a project of this nature had never been pursued anywhere else in the world. He was overruled by the board on that occasion. He was the man who sat down to listen to various people and to study the matter. Although he travelled around the world to examine projects of this nature, he was overruled by the board.

Mayo County Council did not behave well in this instance because it did not listen to the people. If the county manager and the council's officials told Enterprise Energy and Shell when this project was first mooted that they would have to develop the facility at sea, we would not have encountered the problems with which we are familiar and the five men in question would not have been obliged to spend 94 days in jail. Many families in Rossport and Bellanaboy have suffered and many people have been disturbed by the gas project.

I would like the experts in The Irish Times, particularly the people who write editorials, to remember that Rossport, like most places in Erris, is a quiet, beautiful and nice place. Those who proposed to develop one of the biggest projects in the history of the State in a place that does not have much infrastructure thought they could bully the local residents, for example by taking their land. They thought they could do what they liked because they did not think the people of Bellanaboy would stand up and be counted.

As a Member of the Oireachtas, I know I cannot overstep the line in respect of the courts. However, legislation needs to be introduced to ensure that Irish citizens who have serious objections, like the people of Bellanaboy, do not have to mortgage their houses when they go to the courts. I refer to people who have recourse to the legal system because they have been failed by their local authorities and their elected representatives. Ordinary people should be able to go to the courts without being worried that their lands, homes and farms will be robbed from them. The courts system should not just be for the rich — it should be for all the people of this country.

I admit to the residents of Rossport and Bellanaboy that their elected public representatives did not do enough. The Minister of State, Deputy Fahey, spent weeks travelling up and down to County Mayo. There is a file in Mayo County Council which proves that his officials wrote to the county manager asking him to notify them when the application had been dealt with. The Minister of State wanted to be the first to be notified of whether the application had been granted. The county manager scribbled a note to tell his officials to notify the Minister of State. That is not the way the planning process works in this country. The man in question went above and beyond the call of duty in respect of this project.

The Minister, Deputy Noel Dempsey, challenged the Opposition Deputies today to a debate on natural resources. As part of that public debate, the Minister of State, Deputy Fahey, should sit on the Government benches to answer many unanswered questions about his role in this project. His officials should also be allowed to speak about the manner in which they were bullied. I do not blame them for anything that was done within the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources — they were just doing what they were ordered to do by the Minister of State. The Minister, Deputy Noel Dempsey, knows all about how the system operates.

I hope we have learned a lesson from what happened in County Mayo. Members often speak about dialogue. There will be a mediator in this case. I was glad that the Minister used his influence with Shell. We called for such a move on the last Dáil sitting day before the summer recess. I agree with Deputy Broughan that it was a disgrace that the Joint Committee on Communications, Marine and Natural Resources did not see fit to meet for three months until the day before the Dáil returned. It was a disgrace that there were not enough people to sign a quorum to call a meeting of the committee, so that the Minister would have to address its members. It is amazing that the Minister, Shell and the five men in question became involved in discussions two or three days after the Dáil returned. I do not understand why the five men had to stay in jail for 94 days. There was no need for them to spend a single day in jail. The Minister could have intervened or Shell could have collapsed the injunction. It was wrong that the men had to go to jail. They felt compelled to serve a prison sentence because they felt let down by the system, particularly by the council. It was wrong that all the resources of the State were used to support Shell.

I hope the mediator who is appointed will ensure that the people of Erris are listened to on this occasion. This is not about money or land — it is about health and safety. It is about ensuring that people can live in their own homes in safety. They do not want to be blown up or to receive advice from people who think the pipeline is safe. Of course it will be safe until the day it explodes. When that day comes, nobody will take responsibility for the tragedy that will follow. People will run for cover by blaming everybody else and nobody will take responsibility. I want the gas to come onshore but there is only one way that can happen. The Minister needs to talk to Shell. If he had done so two years ago, we would not have the problems we have now. If people had listened to what I said during a county council meeting in 2001, we would not have the problems we have now. The gas would be coming in now if Shell had dealt with it at sea as it did throughout the world.

I do not know why the Minister continues to insist that this country has not given away its natural resources. Of course we have given our resources away to multinational companies. The State will get nothing for its resources because, by the time the companies in question have used their tax breaks, the State will get nothing. Not only has the Minister given our resources away but his colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Fahey, gave away the same licences last year, thereby giving the companies a full year in which to apply.

The Minister, Deputy Noel Dempsey, has spoken about having to spend €30 million or €40 million on exploration to ascertain the levels of oil and gas which are to be found off our shores. He was a member of a Government that spent €60 million on electronic voting machines that nobody wants. Earlier today, the House debated the cost to the taxpayers of a payroll system that was supposed to be the most efficient system in the country. We would be far better off if we had spent €30 million or €40 million on finding out whether we have gas and oil. We should not have given exploration rights to multinational companies, which can tell the Government whether resources are available and can decide when to process them. The people of this country, who own such resources, will never know what is found off our shores.

The greatest scandal of all is that County Mayo, which will have to deal with the many headaches involved in this project, will not benefit from it because no spur lines will be developed to any of its towns. The project would have received more support in County Mayo if the people of the county were benefiting from the development of additional infrastructure, the provision of gas and the creation of jobs. The people of Mayo do not support it because it is doing nothing for the county or the country as a whole. The price of gas increased by over 30% last Saturday, 1 October 2005. We should not feel sorry for Shell because its investment has trebled since the day it became involved in this project. The people of County Mayo have been let down by the Government and by Mayo County Council. I hope the members of the Government have learned their lesson and will listen to the people who will be affected by this project. They should not listen to experts who are well paid to give whatever type of advice is sought by those who employ them. If they are paid by people who are for something, they will find in favour of it. If they are paid by people who are against something, they will find against it.

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