Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)

On the issue of the Corrib gas discovery, as the crisis developed I felt strongly that we had a dearth of information. The Advantica report, the Centre of Public Inquiry and the Minister's technical advisory group all showed there was a lack of fundamental information in this area. It would be important to immediately establish an agency that would give the State an expertise in the entire exploration area. The Natural Oil Reserves Agency Bill is an opportunity to do that. We do not have to reinvent the wheel in that regard. We only have to see the path taken by our Scandinavian neighbours in particular, the Norwegians and the Danes. People refer to the massive resources Norway has, and perhaps Denmark is an even more modest example, but the DONG exploration agency is a model for this country.

The Minister has been criticised severely regarding the Slyne-Erris round of licensing and for the entire licensing programme for this year. There is a belief among the public that we need a full debate on that. There is an oil exploration Bill in my name on the Order Paper and part of that Bill's remit would be to require the Minister to bring every licensing round before this House. The Minister might indicate when replying whether that is a course of action he would favour. The Labour Party would like to see ongoing invigilation of this area. Our Bill provides for a discussion and approval by the Dáil of each licensing round and a six year look-back at the round subsequently. We have the Indecon study and the Minister told the House last night he is still considering the possibility of having a review of the licensing terms, which he expects early next year. That is welcome but there is a case to be made for an agency such as the one the Labour amendment proposes. The Minister said that from what he knows now and what is beginning to become apparent from the resources available to him from different agencies, perhaps in three or four years time the establishment of an Irish exploration agency would be high on the agenda of the Minister for energy but I ask him, in view of all the controversies we have suffered over the past four or five years, to do it now.

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