Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)

I welcome this information which I have been seeking for some time. I have also submitted a parliamentary question for a written response on an issue which is a rather sad affair, namely, about Irish oil and gas companies that have announced they are taking up licences off the former territories of the Spanish Sahara that are in fact the property of the Saharawi people. While other international companies have withdrawn from those waters by arrangement with Morocco, the EU has illegally granted mining rights just off the shores of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic's territory, which is currently under occupation. That is scandalous. I presume that such companies might be more assured of moving into our waters if they become available. Does the Minister anticipate legislation being prepared quickly to implement results likely to come under UN consideration in March? I am not sure whether it took 30 or 40 years for decisions to flow from previous conferences on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Second, it will obviously require an entirely new minerals and resources legislative regime. Does the Minister envisage that? If the UN report, as is expected, rules in our favour, will he institute bilateral talks with the UK and Denmark to establish the basis of the UN recommendation on Rockall?

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