Jerry Cowley (Mayo, Independent)

The Minister spoke about a 25% tax. He can correct me if I am wrong, but 20 years is a long period of time in which to write off operational costs. How long before the Exchequer gets a penny from the Corrib gas field?

The Minister mentioned intransigence, but it was indecent of him to compare the intransigence of people in Rossport to that of Dr. Paisley and Mr. Adams. The Minister wrote off the Shell to Sea announcement within an hour of its being made and Shell stated that it was impractical to consider anything other than the Bellanaboy site. Perhaps this is where the problem lies. The Minister talked about Mr. Peter Cassells and the Advantica report but he must admit the problem lies in the fact that they were not allowed to examine anything other than the pipeline option.

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