Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

Compared to similar circumstances, it took approximately three times as long to bring it ashore in this jurisdiction from discovery of the field to the likely date of 2014. That is not justifiable because a great deal of cost can be written down by the company, a great deal of tax is forgone by the State and a huge bill is incurred by the State in providing security in the form of the Garda Síochána in particular. It does not bear favourable comparison with the international experience but I would also like to think it is a once-off. The experience at Kinsale, for example, is quite different. To go back to Deputy Durkan's original question, I hope lessons have been learned.

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