Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)

If amendment No. 78 had been part of this Bill and CER had been given this safety role, it is possible that all of the sad events of the past six years would not have happened. People have grave concerns. Someone made a fair point to me last Monday and others from Erris and north Mayo have also made certain points to me about the entire history of this matter when they have visited this city, including the original consensus in the run up to the 2002 general elections and the change of mind by An Bord Pleanála. I have never before come across such an occurrence.

Deputy Durkan's point about what usually happens when Bord Pleanála makes a decision is correct. For example, a new city is being built in my constituency. My colleagues in the Labour Party and I have fought the high-density nature and height of the development, which involves the ubiquitous tiny apartment-like structures, all along the line in the planning process. An Bord Pleanála then made a decision. One does not suddenly come along and get another decision. The developers have lost a number of battles along the way because of the way in which we pursued them to get the best possible environment for our constituency.

Deputy Cowley made a very useful point about the wonderful, pristine nature of north-west Mayo. It compares to possibly four or five other areas. I often think of the Beara peninsula, with which I am very familiar, and possibly parts of west Clare, Connemara and parts of Donegal. These are among the most pristine and unspoiled environments on the island of Ireland. It is striking that this enormous industrial project is taking place in the heart of this community and the province of Connacht which has never had gas. There is a long history of gas being produced and brought into Dublin. We know how dangerous gas is and this is the fundamental reason for the Bill. We know of people who almost died from gas leaks and these fears are understandable.

Reference was made to the refinery. I commend my colleague, Mr. Peter Cassells, on his work in this respect. However, the refinery was not examined. The Deputy representing Mayo made the point well that given the consents, concerns and so on, the authorities did not zero in on the refinery.

We spoke about power generation earlier. There are a number of power stations, generators and other forms of industrial production in Dublin Bay. The people of Dublin balked at the location of a refinery in Dublin in the past. A man from my region was a Member of this House for a brief period. I refer to Deputy Seán Dublin Bay Loftus who represented Dublin North-East. He became a representative because he and his community in Clontarf objected to the siting of a petrochemical refinery across the road from where they lived. The Minister will recall they won the debate. However, concern about such developments is an ongoing issue.

The safety issue is paramount. The Government should play a role in that regard. It would be beneficial if the Minister could bring CER and Bord Gáis Éireann into the heart of this debate to try to get a resolution and so that we will not have to rely on foreign companies and multinationals which will benefit primarily.

On the point raised by Deputy Cowley, we both had a debate on this issue last Thursday following which I was of the view that the commission of inquiry proposal could be used as a reasonable basis for serious final discussions on this matter to resolve it. I am happy to meet the chief executive of Shell, as I will this Friday, to put that point to him face to face. He, his team and associated companies should meet the people of Erris, Deputy Cowley and Shell to Sea and its representatives face to face with no preconditions to try to resolve this matter. That is what everyone wants. We do not want any more scenes such as those of last Thursday. Muintir na háite were far and away the preponderant people participating in the protest on that day and they were the people who walked beside me. It was interesting to meet people whom I only had made contact with by e-mail and telephone, such as Ms Imelda Moran, who has powerfully raised the cold venting issue.

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