Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

-----I will join with him in reviewing the terms. We have not made the finds and in comparison to Norway, the strike rate in that country is beyond our wildest dreams. If a hole is drilled unsuccessfully in Norway, the state pays 70% of the cost, and if we were to do so here our financial position would be worse. What Deputy Boyd Barrett is not minded to accept is that what we are talking about is a potential reserve but we have not yet been able to find it. We are now engaged in a new licensing round calculated to bring in more companies with an exploration interest into this area of our offshore.

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