Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)

Sinn Féin has presented a one size fits all approach to the tax and royalty regime for the oil industry. Such an approach ignores the fact that the oil and energy industry operates on a global basis. Ireland, in the current circumstances, cannot act in an isolated manner which discourages the investment required to uncover whatever natural resources are available off the coast. In the past 40 years, four oil and gas finds have been made, three of which were gas finds off the coast of County Cork at Kinsale while the fourth, which is under development, was a find off the coast of County Mayo at Corrib.

Last night, the Minister, Deputy Rabbitte, explained that the Government's position is to encourage and improve the rate of exploration and drilling to enhance the country's prospects of a successful find. The performance, as distinct from the promise of the 1970s, has been relatively poor to date and greater activity should be encouraged to improve the prospects of a commercial find off the coast.

The Minister also indicated that once the reform committee structure is in place, he will be willing to go into committee for as long as is required to debate Government policy in this important area. He further indicated that it would be a matter for the committee to decide which other interests it wishes to hear from. I am sure that if the committee's deliberations result in new, useful and affordable insights, the Minister will be glad to take them on board.

Tax incentives or penalties are not the issue in oil exploration. The issue is one of geology and economics and balancing risk and reward in a manner that will incentivise exploration and extraction. I will cite the example of one field that was drilled in the 1980s. It lies approximately 250 miles off the coast of Fenit in what is known as the Porcupine Basin. As Deputy Ferris will know, having frequently sailed the waters in that area, the area is treacherous.

See this speech in context