Martin Ferris (Kerry North, Sinn Fein)

I thank the Minister for his reply. Does the Minister agree it is vital that the entire project be placed under review and that all relevant minutes of meetings which took place between the Department officials and Shell should be released into the public domain? This should include details of a meeting which took place between the Taoiseach and Tom Botts of Shell on 19 September 2003.

Will there be full disclosure of the procedures under which Bellanaboy Wood was transferred to Shell for use for the proposed refinery? Is the Minister aware of a reply to a question asked by Bairbre de Brúin at the European Commission? The European Commission has stated:

Projects which are likely to have significant effects on the environment and that would require an environment impact assessment under EU directives should not be split into sub-projects so that each of them taken individually is determined not to have significant environmental effects and thus escape the obligation set out in the directive.

Does the Minister agree that the Corrib project is an amalgamation of sub-projects, thus avoiding an environmental impact assessment? Would the Minister agree to a full and transparent inquiry being held on all aspects, including health and safety matters as well as the licensing terms, so that they too should be subject to the review?

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