Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy Kelly, who contacted me to apologise for being unable to be here. The Minister of State's reply with regard to the consultation process is unsatisfactory. My constituents believe that this project is of major significance to strategic infrastructure, whatever its planning connotation and that the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, should both be consulted directly. It seems incredible that we learn about this major plan from press releases rather than from engagement with the Government and with the local authorities.

What power has the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government with regard to environmental impact statements? This is a major infrastructural project costing at least €20 million and possibly more which will involve the promoters being given way-leave along the major traffic arteries of Dublin city. What power has the Minister to insist that an environmental impact statement would be produced?

In the previous instalment of this madcap proposal in 1991 to 2001, the Health and Safety Authority said that Ireland had no legislation covering aviation fuel pipelines and that the HSE and the HSA had no statutory remit with regard to the safety standards of the proposal. I do not believe this situation has changed. Are regulations in place to govern aviation fuel pipelines? I imagine legislation would have been drafted if we had discovered oil off the south-west coast. Hopefully there will be oil discoveries in the future off the coast of Connacht and Munster. There is a significant lacuna in such legislation.

Is it not incumbent on the Minister to bring forward legislation before this can even be considered? The Malahide Road is an impossible location because it is such a busy key artery in the north city and Dublin Bay North. It is unconscionable to hold it up for a year or more. The Dublin Port tunnel was specifically built for this purpose and aviation fuel trucks make up only 1.5% of the traffic. Surely we do not need this madcap half-baked proposal.

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