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

My advice is that there is no danger the country is in breach. One can never say so with certainty before one goes before a quasi-judicial authority, but this is not the only case where the Department has experience and it will continue to have experience as we try to accumulate a repository of knowledge on the seismic data around our coasts. The Department is insistent it has had regard to the requirements of EU directives on environmental impact and that it has had such regard in this particular case. I take the Deputy's point that it is a matter of some importance. I understand we are allotted 70 days to make our response to the Commission letter and we are in the process of preparing this. As is normal, we are liaising with the National Parks and Wildlife Service which has a great deal of knowledge in this regard.

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