Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)

Yes. He told me about this conversation last Wednesday evening in the House. The local people protesting on what I would call the "non-media" days have, by and large, engaged in peaceful protest. They have had no problems with the gardaí on the days on which they have been protesting. However, one can see calls for days of action every day on such websites as Indymedia and the website belonging to the Shell to Sea campaign. On such days, people from outside the area come in and cause problems with the gardaí and local people. Both Deputies Ferris and Cowley know this is true and I hope they will not state that nobody outside of this area was involved in the events which took place last Friday because it is not true.

It is correct to say that the issue of the terminal, which is slightly related to the amendments before us, was not addressed by Peter Cassells and Advantica because the issue was dealt with by An Bord Pleanála and the planning authorities. Environmental issues like cold venting will be dealt with by the Environmental Protection Agency.

We have reached a stage where people who accuse everybody else of not being prepared to listen are themselves not prepared to accept what people are saying. When one brings in outside people who are independent of all sides and produce reports, there must be an end to the matter at some point. As Deputy Durkan pointed out, this matter cannot run on and on.

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