Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is entitled to his opinion, although we do not accept it. Perhaps we do not realise what we have written, but I believe we do. The recommendation flows logically from the report.

I wish to address the question of having a consultative forum for the industry. When all of the players are at the same table, misunderstandings often evaporate and buy-in increases among communities and society in general. The Minister should establish a forum that would involve his Department and the statutory agencies, including the National Oil Reserves Agency, NORA, which is responsible for ensuring that we have enough oil, the Geological Survey, the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, Bord Gáis, etc. Exploration interests should also be involved. Their representative bodies appeared before the committee. As a former trade union official, the Minister will support my next suggestion - representatives of the trade union movement in the oil industry should be involved. They have made strong comments. For example, the Minister used to be an official in SIPTU, which is active in this field and has produced reports. Representatives of the communities hosting developments in the oil and gas industries should also be involved. All of the groups that the committee met should be brought to the same table in a consultative process with the joint aim of developing this industry in the interests of Ireland's ordinary people.

The Minister has stated that An Bord Pleanála can order community gain, but we must move a step further. The Minister stated that Fianna Fáil should have done this. Perhaps we should have, but that does not mean that the world should not keep developing. I am always thinking up new ideas and developments. There should be statutory community gain. It should be mandatory that, in every major infrastructural development, 1% or some other percentage be made available for community gain. The disbursement of that money should be done at a remove from the developer. While the developer would pay the money, integrated development companies with long-established credibility in their communities for disbursing moneys, such as Leader companies, would disburse it so that it would not be treated like a goody bag by a private interest.

There is much talk of consultation but the time that needs to take place is when the schematic plan is published. In north Mayo people say they were not fully aware of the consequences until the terminal application was made. At that stage it is too late because once has decided on the terminal and one knows where the gas is, all the rest flows and there is nothing much one can do about it. I see it time and again with windmills and so many issues that relate to the Department. We put little advertisements in newspapers for planning purposes but in many cases communities are not made fully aware of the consequences of development.

We must also ensure that the dul i gcomhairle, the consultation process, is one that is not controlled by private interests but by the State in a proper forum. It should not be a case of going into oral hearings against people with vast resources. The consultation process must be a much more inclusive and less formal process in the beginning leading to a more formal process as the project develops.

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