Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The exploratory licences were granted. Although the European Commission will not necessarily set rules in respect of each country, it will have an important role in ensuring an EU-wide approach to anything that will affect the environment, for example, EPA studies and environmental impact assessments. Every private company can use court proceedings at a broad level.

The significance of the study is that it was done on a North-South basis. There is a role for the North-South Ministerial Council to ensure that, while the study is ongoing, the political conversation will be ongoing as well. I do not like the idea of an EPA study being boxed off for two years while, back at the ranch, there is no political conversation. The political mechanism is the North-South Ministerial Council and possibly our Good Friday Agreement committee and the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly, BIPA. As the Deputy knows, there is a different attitude at governmental level in the UK to this type of process. We are keen to ensure that all of the collaboration and research is done on a North-South basis. That is why we want university expertise from both jurisdictions.

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