Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

I regret that the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Rabbitte, has had to leave the Chamber. He was here earlier. The Minister made an interesting accusation in his speech about Deputy Ferris. He said "the Deputy was 30 years behind me then [in 1975] and he is 30 years behind me now", which opens up an interesting debate about the political paths that have been travelled by people in this Chamber across the political spectrum. I suspect that time does not permit me to pursue that further. It is likely the Minister will be relieved to hear that.

Perhaps the Minister, Deputy Rabbitte, might like to reflect on how far behind him he considers his party president, the much respected former Deputy, Michael D. Higgins, to be. Mr. Higgins has said that the decision of the then Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Pat Carey, to sign key consents for the last section of the Corrib gas pipeline on the day of this year's general election was "very wrong". He continued:

This is not a decision that one would regard as clearing one's desk as Minister, as it has very serious implications. This project has been dogged by decisions taken which were not before the public gaze, and this will just add to the lack of accountability. It is very unhelpful.

In his response to our motion, the Minister, Deputy Rabbitte, did not reflect the points that had been made by Mr. Higgins. The Minister seems to think he is way ahead of all of us, including his party's prospective presidential candidate.

In this regard, as in so many others, there has been a smooth handover and a remarkably trouble-free transition in policy terms from Fianna Fáil and the Green Party to Fine Gael and the Labour Party. The current Government is singing from the same hymn sheet as the previous one with regard to Corrib and our natural resources. It cannot be disputed that the Government's amendment to the Sinn Féin motion before the House could just as easily have been written from the pen of the last Government. During the debate on the banking disaster report, Deputy Doherty reminded the House that during the 2002-2007 Dáil, Sinn Féin warned about the property bubble, the tax cuts for the wealthy and the failure to build the economy on solid foundations. We also warned about the giveaway of our natural resources.

During the 1997-2002 Dáil, when I was a lonely voice as the only Sinn Féin Deputy, I was among the few to raise the issue of the Corrib gas field as a prime example of the giveaway or robbery of the resources of the people. When I spoke during a debate on western development in 2001, I said that the giveaway of our natural resources from the Corrib field "could emerge as one of the greatest scandals", which is exactly what has happened. I continued:

I refer to the sweetheart deal enjoyed by the consortium currently exploiting the massive Corrib gas field off the coast of County Mayo. This gas field is a hugely valuable national resource but it has been virtually handed over to a private company. The deal ... was done in 1992 and the Minister responsible was [none other than] former Deputy Ray Burke. I call for an investigation into Ray Burke's role in negotiating the deal, enabling the consortium led by Enterprise to benefit from what is the lowest tax regime in Europe. My party, Sinn Féin, has consistently argued for the deal brokered by Ray Burke in 1992 to be renegotiated. The deal ensured that the consortium led by Enterprise has not had to pay one penny in royalties to the Government [or indeed to the people of Ireland] for the Corrib gas find and the consortium can write off exploration expenses against any tax payable ... It is a scandal that Irish national resources have been sold off at a knock-down price particularly when we look at the region involved, the neglected western seaboard. That somebody with Ray Burke's track record was centrally involved in this deal must raise questions about the nature of the negotiation and its outcome. These matters need to be addressed and answered. SIPTU representatives who represent Irish oil workers have called for an inquiry and the Western Development Commission has questioned the Government's handling of this resource.

A decade later, the truth is till being denied. I will conclude by calling again, as I did ten years ago, for a full investigation into the deal. We should not continue with this scandalous sell-out of the people's natural and national resources.

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