Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)

They can write off expenses relating to wells. If a company discovers gas or oil and brings it ashore, as will happen with the Corrib gas field, the expenses relating to the discovery can be written off with the balance taxed at a rate of 25%.

Indecon is conducting the review mentioned by the Deputies. The Department conducted an internal review, which will also form part of the review by the external experts. I never indicated that it would be finalised by the end of the October. I hope Indecon will have delivered the report and I will have everything finalised by the end of the year. It will certainly be made public before the election.

The amendment calls on the Minister to establish a subsidiary oil exploration agency to facilitate a holistic approach to Ireland's oil and energy security. It is interesting that Members are arguing out of both sides of their mouth at the same time. They accuse us of lacking expertise and say we are being kidded up to our eyes by the oil exploration companies because we do not know what is happening. However, Members would benefit from a briefing session with departmental officials who could explain to them the processes involved in granting exploration and prospecting licences. One of the conditions of such licences is that companies must share the data and information they gather with the Department and they must commit to provide seismic data to the Department during the exploration phase. Much of the data is published by the Department after a period and we emphasised the availability of that data at the conference earlier. Given that the price of oil is currently $60 a barrel, much of the information provided at the conference indicates it will be more profitable to explore in the kind of waters we are discussing. However, that information is available and it is not the case that we are totally blind to the possibilities and potential involved. We do not allow companies to get information without sharing it with the Department. We are not totally dependent on the companies because we use the expertise of the Department and the GSI's experts to check and recheck information. The Marine Institute can also be helpful in this matter. People should be aware of these facts because they seem to wrongly believe that we take the small amount of information we get from the companies, but do not have the ability or expertise to check it.

The Bill concerns the National Oil Reserves Agency, the stockholding of oil and oil reserves. It ensures that in the event of a catastrophe, we have stocks to prevent the economy grinding to a halt. NORA will have no expertise in oil exploration and extending the Bill to allow for such is not the way forward. If we decide to go down that route, it will be done via substantial primary legislation, not an amendment to an irrelevant Bill. I am surprised the amendment was tabled.

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