Eamon Scanlon (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to have the opportunity to contribute to this debate and commend Deputy Tony McLoughlin. Unquestionably, this is an important point. I thank the Love Leitrim campaign, some of the members of which are in the audience, and Friends of the Earth on behalf of the many thousands of people whose lives I hope will not be affected by fracking once the Bill is passed.

I do not agree with the amendments tabled. Like Deputy Martin Kenny and my colleague, Deputy John Brassil, I do not believe Sinn Féin's amendment should be moved, as it would complicate something important. We do not want to do that or anything else that would delay the Bill in any way.

When I first heard of fracking, it was in a motion proposed at Leitrim County Council by Councillor Mary Bohan against the wishes of many of the council's officials. It was supported, albeit not by every councillor because people did not fully understand the damage that could be done. Honestly, I did not either until I happened to be watching the Discovery Channel one day when it showed a PBS America programme on fracking in America, particularly in the state of New York. Although it was a balanced programme that was not for or against fracking, it showed the damage caused to the environment, as well as to communities that once had been growing with schools, shops and so on but in which schools had closed and people had moved away.

We are not talking about one well in an area and we could be talking about 50 or 60 wells within 2 square miles. It absolutely destroys the environment from a visual point of view and also from a health point of view. That programme showed someone turning on a tap and then lighting a match, and the water coming out of the tap lit up. That could not be good for anybody, but that is where people were living. We do not want this in Ireland. We have a nice green country. We have quite a good quality of life here and the freedom that means people can go where they want to go. We want to maintain that. No money would compensate the people of this country for damage similar to what has been done in other countries, particularly in America.

I again thank everybody involved in the campaign. We are on the crest of having the Bill passed. I ask those who have tabled amendments to withdraw them so we can move on, pass the Bill and send it to the Seanad.

See this speech in context