Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)

I apologise on behalf of the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Phil Hogan. He was not able to be here to reply to the debate. I will convey the views of the Deputy, of which he is aware, to him. I thank the Deputy for raising this matter for debate.

Primary policy responsibility for the exploitation of offshore natural resources, including the tax regime applicable to such projects, is a matter for the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. Such projects are subject to a number of statutory consents under the Gas Acts and the Petroleum and Other Minerals Development Act. Projects involving works within the 12 nautical mile outer limit of the foreshore are also subject to consent under the Foreshore Acts.

The Department received an application from Providence Resources for a foreshore licence in respect of site investigations and the drilling of an exploratory well off Dalkey. I am advised that this is the first such application under foreshore legislation for this type of project. Notice of the application was published in the press on 5 January 2012. The notice provided details of how the application and accompanying information could be inspected and the means by which the public were invited to make submissions on the proposal.

The application and supporting information were available for inspection in hard copy at two Garda stations and are available electronically on the websites of the Department and the project proponent. The closing date for the receipt of submissions by the Department was 2 February 2012. In the order of 700 individual submissions, of which 350 are duplicates, and 4,100 submissions of the same online petition were received by the Department during the public consultation period. All submissions received have been published on the Department's website and have been forwarded to the applicant inviting its response to the issues raised.

The licence application will be the subject of an environmental assessment by the scientific and technical advisers on the marine licence vetting committee. Their assessment will involve a detailed examination of the application, related information and issues raised in submissions received from the public and prescribed bodies, and the applicant's responses to those issues. I expect the environmental assessment will consider, inter alia, potential impacts on European sites, sensitive species, other legitimate uses within the area the subject of the application and navigation issues.

A determination will be made on the application in due course, taking account of the recommendations of the marine licence vetting committee and the Department. Should the project progress to commercial exploitation, it would be the subject of further formal applications for consents from the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, in the first instance, and then An Bord Pleanála under the Planning Acts, and a full lease or licence under the Foreshore Acts, all of which will require the submission of an environmental impact statement and environmental impact assessments by the relevant consent authorities.

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