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

We do not have the State investment for a State exploration company. Therefore, we have to attract companies that can carry out such work. For that reason, we have to pitch the fiscal regime broadly in line with the situation in similar member states. There is no point in comparing apples with oranges. There is no comparison between this country and Norway, which has a particularly different geological structure and a hit rate of approximately one in four. Since the early 1970s, we have had four gas finds and no oil finds. I hope the signals from Barryroe continue to be encouraging as they are at the moment. Another couple of wells will have to be drilled before we know for sure whether it is commercially viable - whether the oil that is undoubtedly there is commercially extractable.

See this speech in context