Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

I will. I welcome the Deputy's support and that he may not press this issue. It is not common in other jurisdictions to have consultation on the safety case. I am extremely worried about this point, as I believe are all other Members given that worry was certainly reflected during the Committee Stage discussions - I was very happy about that. The unconscionable delays associated with the Corrib project are not something we should be proud of, either as a Government or as a country, in terms of how we handle very large investments that are very valuable to this country in energy security and revenues to the State.

I hope the Deputy will bear with me and perhaps consider withdrawing his amendment because we must try this process and make it slimmer and faster while having a requisite level of public consultation. It would be dangerous to open the safety case to a public consultation procedure because there is no end to that. I need not remind the Deputy that some of the people who have opposed this project will never be happy unless Shell move away from this country. They impose a comparison to the Niger Delta which I do not share or see as being relevant. That is the kind of mindset one is dealing with regarding some of the people involved. I am somewhat sceptical of consultation measures and fora of one kind or another that facilitate serial objectors, who are wired up on some kind of ideological or subversive viewpoint, to continually ambush something that is clearly in the national interest.

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