Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I reject all of those assertions because they do not make sense. As I said, we have had a very small number of drills off our coast compared to the numbers in Britain and Norway because of the fact that there is a much better chance of finding oil off their shores. We have to get companies to invest here and we are getting them. However, during the years, the graph showing the number of companies coming here has not gone up but down. We want companies to come here, but they will not come if there is an 80% tax regime in place because there is no certainty of finding oil and gas and there is a much greater certainty of finding them at other locations. We have to be in the marketplace to attract them. There are companies which I hope, will find oil next year. However, we do not know if they will do so and they do not know either. It costs at least €60 million to drill a well. We have to provide the seismic knowledge they need. In that regard, a major seismic survey will take place on the Atlantic margins in the next two years. It will inform companies in the next Atlantic margins round and I hope as a result that more companies will come here to drill.

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