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

I want to reassure the Deputy that the EPA study is examining each and every issue that he has raised. It is also looking at other jurisdictions where fracking has taken place and where there have been incidents. All of that scientific knowledge will be included in the examination.

I have a report on what happened in Colorado. If the Deputy wants me to read it out, I will certainly do so. It states that there are 20,000 oil and gas wells across the county where it happened. Some 1,900 of those had to be closed off as a result of the flooding. State officials advised that as regards oil and gas infrastructure, the damage was limited. No wells failed during the flood and they responded quickly to minimise any spills or contamination from broken pipes or damaged storage tanks. They laid out floating booms to absorb and contain oil slicks.

I want to reconfirm that we have no applications proposing the use of fracking and no such applications will be considered until we have seen the outcome of the EPA's research.

As regards the place referred to by the Deputy as the Six Counties, I presume he means Northern Ireland, where his party is in a power-sharing administration. As I understand the communications between the people there and our Department, they are part of this fracking study as well. In other words, the Environmental Protection Agency study is for both North and South. The Northern Ireland administration is also involved in supporting and funding this research. I think it is very positive that we will have an all-island report to inform everybody about the facts.

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