Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Three onshore licensing options were granted by the previous Minister of State at the Department, Conor Lenihan, in February 2011 immediately prior to the general election. Two were over parts of the north west carboniferous basin of Lough Allen and one was over parts of County Clare. These licensing options conferred upon the holders the first right to apply for an exploration licence. I can confirm that two of the three companies have submitted applications for a follow-on exploration licence.

The Government has made it clear that any application for an exploration licence for hydraulic fracturing as part of unconventional gas exploration would be subject to an environmental impact assessment. It has also made clear that such assessment would be informed by the findings of further research to be commissioned by the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, and that absolutely no decision would be made on any proposal for the use of hydraulic fracturing in exploration drilling in Ireland until there has been time to consider the outcome of this further research.

Earlier this year the EPA announced the draft terms of reference for the more extensive second stage of its research, the final results of which are expected in early 2015. The key questions to be addressed by this research are whether this technology can be used while fully protecting the environment and what the best environmental practice in using this technology might be.

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