Paddy McHugh (Galway East, Independent)

I wish to share time with Deputies Joe Higgins, Connolly and Ó Caoláin.

The guiding principle with regard to Ireland's natural wealth should be that whatever benefits accrue should be for the citizens of the State. This principle is currently not being applied because it is clear the main beneficiaries are multinational oil companies. I recognise it is not all one-way traffic and that multinational oil companies are not all lining up, jostling for position, to be granted licences. However, there is a view abroad that the Irish people are not benefitting to the extent they should. That view is reinforced by the fact that the route of the Corrib gas line, while running close to many towns and settlements in the counties of Galway and Mayo, is not serving any of them but taking the gas somewhere else. It is always somewhere else, as far as rural Connacht is concerned.

I implore the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources to take immediate steps to ensure the Corrib gas line brings some benefits to the counties of Galway and Mayo. A spur to the towns along the route is required as a first step. There is no excuse for spur lines not being provided. This is a golden opportunity for the Government to give practical expression to its often stated aim of achieving balanced regional development. We are fed up with talk about saving the west. Let the Government stop talking and start working.

To illustrate the madness of not utilising the gas supply as it travels to somewhere else, one only has to imagine an ESB line travelling in excess of 100 miles through rural Ireland, passing by many towns along the way without servicing any which did not already have an electricity supply. That would be seen as madness, as being short-sighted, to be lacking in any foresight, devoid of strategic planning, the policy of a banana republic, to be undemocratic. In an exactly similar situation we have miles of pipeline running through a large part of Connacht but servicing none of it.

Some time ago, Bord Gáis announced it was revising its policy with regard to the possibility of connecting those towns subject to approval by the energy regulator. In the course of this debate, will the Minister set out his view on this issue? Will he say if he is in favour of connecting those towns and if so, what action he is taking to bring it about? What contact has the Minister had with Bord Gáis or other bodies to ensure this vital infrastructure for the development of the west is put in place without delay?

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