Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have no problem with the first section of the additional amendment. However, the second section states: "The Minister shall not issue, renew, reinstate, or extend any licence or other exploitation rights for the exploration, extraction, production or prospecting of petroleum onshore or offshore." That is the direction we need to go in. We need to move away from fossil fuels everywhere - that is the world target and what we need to do. However, I also think we have to be sensible. That is not to say the Deputy proposing this amendment or the other Deputies proposing amendments in regard to offshore are not sensible but that we need to look at what we can achieve. What we can achieve is a Bill which will deal with the issue at hand, which is the danger of hydraulic fracturing happening onshore in the State. Hydraulic fracturing is not happening offshore yet, but there is the potential for that and we need to deal with it. We have been advised that if we try to deal with the offshore issue here, that could be used. We all know that in certain sections of the Civil Service in this State, there are people who have a particular agenda. They will use that notion of going offshore as a means of bringing it down a path where it will need further research, and this, that and other, and it will have to be referred for legal expertise and everything else - delay, delay, delay - and the whole lot will fall. That is the danger I see. I am talking about people in the petroleum section of the Department.

We need to recognise that we have to try to achieve something. The thing we can achieve is that we can get this Bill through. Once we get it through, we will then come back, sit down and all work together on the offshore aspect. If we can achieve that, it will be a very good day's work but it is vital that we get this Bill through as swiftly as possible. We can then work together on the offshore aspect, which also needs to be dealt with quickly.

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