Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I can confirm that a communication has been received from the European Commission seeking certain clarifications with regard to the implementation of the environmental impact assessment, EIA, directive and the habitats directive, in granting permission to carry out a 3-D survey over the Corrib field. The European Commission advised that it has received a complaint alleging a violation of the EIA directive by Ireland.

The European Commission operates an arbitration forum which attempts to resolve possible violations of EU law before cases escalate to the European Court of Justice. The arbitration forum is known as the EU pilot and this particular complaint is being addressed in that forum. My Department is preparing a detailed response to the specific questions raised by the Commission and I do not propose to deal with the precise content of the Commission’s letter. On a general note, the complaint made relates to the question of impact on cetaceans and this is a potential impact that is considered by my Department in the case of all seismic surveys.

In the case of the survey in question my Department’s assessment of the application had regard to the requirements of EU directives on environmental impact. The grant of permission for seismic surveys is always conditioned to ensure that the National Parks and Wildlife Service's code of practice for the protection of marine mammals during acoustic sea floor surveys in Irish waters is adhered to, together with other such mitigation measures considered necessary including a requirement to have a marine mammal observer on board the seismic vessel for the duration of the survey. I never knew that such things existed.

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