Michael Colreavy (Sligo-North Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

In that country the markets ruled the people instead of the people ruling the markets.

With the arrival of Correa's Government came a different approach. It showed the people that it was not necessary to continue to do what had always been done, namely, be submissive to the World Bank and the IMF and pay off external debt irrespective of the social debts which were pending. This process was called a citizens' revolution. An interesting aspect of this citizens' revolution was to use the country's natural resources to aid and benefit the people of Ecuador. Instead of allowing multinational oil and gas companies to exploit the natural resources of the country, Correa changed the system of oil and gas exploration so that it benefited local communities. Why can the Irish Government not adopt a similar approach to our natural resources? Ireland is a country with a wealth of natural resources that have not been utilised or exploited to its benefit. Oil and gas, wind and wave energy have huge potential to benefit this State and its people. What we need is a Government that is willing to commit to developing these areas and making them profitable for the State and the people.

There is a common misconception among the public that Ireland needs low oil and gas taxation to promote exploration and develop its oil and gas industry. Successive Irish Governments and, in particular, the oil industry lobby have propagated this myth for many years. The successful oil and gas lobby, with the help of media commentators, some of whom have strong interests in the oil and gas industry, have spun the myth that Ireland's current system of taxation is the best deal there is in the exploration of its natural resources. The line which this lobby group spins is that the more oil and gas that is extracted from Irish waters, the more jobs there will be for Ireland and the greater will be our infrastructure. It also claims that the current system of oil and gas exploration off the Irish coast will ensure energy security for Ireland, resulting in our no longer being reliant on imported fossil fuels. Oil and gas company public relations spokespersons, and their spokespersons in the media and in politics, subtly imply that Irish homes will have access to cheap fuel if oil and gas companies are allowed to proceed under the current rules. However, this could not be further from the truth. The people are not being told the facts.

Ireland's offshore oil and gas reserves have the long-term potential to be a significant source of revenue for the economy. According to a Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources report in 2006 there is approximately 10 billion barrels of oil equivalent off our western coast, comprised of 6.5 billion barrels of oil and 20 trillion cubic feet of gas. At current oil prices, this equates to approximately €540 billion.

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