Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I very much welcome the opportunity to have participated in the passage of the Bill and in working with Deputy McLoughlin and others on the committee. It is a testament to the approach of new politics that when Deputy McLoughlin's Bill was published Fianna Fáil was also working on a Bill and we chose to stop in order to follow the lead the Deputy set. Correct me if I am wrong but I believe that the Sinn Féin party was also working on this issue. I know they can talk for themselves, but I assume they chose to hold back and to work in a collective way. To me, that is probably the most progressive sign in terms of the rules and procedures that are here in the decision that was taken. This was an issue of importance and interest to everybody. While I have absolutely great regard for Deputy Boyd Barrett, sometimes I get the impression that if the main political parties venture in to an area that he is particularly interested in, we are somehow excoriated because we have not had the same connection, as he sees it, to civil society. I may be mis-characterising his views in this regard but to suggest that the major political parties have not been connected with civil society or with citizens over the years would be an unfair characterisation. We listen to the people and we try to represent them and that is how we manage to get people elected.

I recognise that in the more fractured environment of society generally - pardon the pun - of course we must work collaboratively and collectively.

That is the approach our Front Bench took in the progression of our Bill. If there is a Bill with which we can work to the same effect, it does not matter that Deputy Tony McLoughlin's Bill was brought forward first. It is not about that. While great credit is due to the Deputy for the work he has done in spearheading and driving the Bill, it should not be about the party badge on the back of it. We are all here to collectively serve those who put us here. It is clear to the vast majority of Deputies that onshore hydraulic fracturing on a small island would have the capacity to have an absolutely detrimental impact, not just on the landscape but also on tourism potential and people's ability to enjoy the amenities of the region in which they live. Of course, there is also the issue of groundwater.

My own county of Clare was identified as containing an area that could potentially have some reserves of shale gas or oil. A decision was taken by the members of Clare County Council way back when it was not fashionable to talk about fracking and people did not have as much interest in it. The council was predominantly made up of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael members; I cannot remember which party held a majority at the time, but the councillors were very quick to cotton on to the problem. While Leitrim County Council and others followed afterwards, Clare County Council was one of the first to pass a motion to state it wanted a ban and did not want to proceed with activities that might lead to any further investigation or exploration. It was at the forefront. Its councillors did that and it has worked really well. I know that there are councillors from County Leitrim in the Visitors Gallery because of the particular focus of Deputy Tony McLoughlin's Bill on counties Sligo and Leitrim. However, councillors in County Clare were talking about this issue a long time ago and understood the impact. People live in dispersed rural communities which presents its own issues in terms of groundwater and sewerage, matters which are for another day, but it was very clear that this practice was not fit for use in this country. I will not say it was permissible or acceptable in other countries, but it was happening in regions with vast tracts of land where no humans lived.

I had my concerns during the darker days of the recession that somebody in an office high above the city of Dublin would ask why we should ban fracking when there were reserves in the ground that could potentially assist us in our time of need. I was deeply concerned that such thinking might emerge, but, thankfully, it did not. We are as a result in a position to be able to support a ban today. The Bill ensures that, regardless of what opportunities or potential might emerge at a later stage, nobody will be minded to see them as being of some benefit.

On the wider environmental issues, we have to get real about moving away from carbon and its extraction. There is vast potential in offshore wind energy projects. I appeal to the Department and the Minister of State to look at the support needed, particularly in the refit programme being proposed. It should be supporting offshore wind energy projects to the same degree as solar energy and other exploratory projects. , To the best of my recollection, under the last refit programme there was support for tidal and wave energy projects, a sector that has really not been developed as far as is necessary. There is potential to support research and development opportunities in offshore wind energy generation. That issue needs to be addressed by the Department.

Passing the Bill cannot be the end of the interest of this House in protecting the environment. We have to get real in looking at other energy sources. The State has to move well beyond just banning things. It has to become proactive in supporting the use of alternative energy sources in order that we can ultimately move beyond being dependent on gas and oil. We have to move towards the use of electric vehicles. Norway, a country that has built up a great fund of sovereign wealth from the extraction of oil and gas, is looking at phasing out by 2025 vehicles dependent on carbon. Even oil producing countries see an end to their use on the horizon. We need to take similar action. We should be far more aggressive in supporting the use of electric vehicles. We have to find cheaper ways to produce energy and it cannot be from oil or gas. We have to look to making use of the wind coming from the Atlantic Ocean.

I compliment Deputy Tony McLoughlin on his efforts and congratulate his staff who have put a hell of a lot of work into the Bill. Oftentimes they are the unsung heroes, but it is right to recognise all concerned.

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