Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will ensure I finish before the allocated hour. I congratulate Deputy McLoughlin on the progression of the Bill which, I understand, is the first Private Members' Bill to progress through Report and Final Stages certainly in this Dáil and also for a considerable number of years.

I acknowledge the support of political parties and Independents across the House on the issue. I also acknowledge the support of former Ministers in my Department, my immediate predecessor, the Minister of State, Deputy McHugh, and also Pat Rabbitte and Deputy O'Dowd, who were involved in the moratorium on fracking in recent years. I also thank the officials in my Department, particularly Orla Ryan, for their work in support of the Bill.

I also thank the committee which hosted the debate, the Chair of the committee, Deputy Hildegarde Naughton, and the members of the committee who engaged with the EPA-led synthesis report which contained recommendations that also supported the basis of Deputy Tony McLoughlin's Bill.

Deputies Boyd Barrett and Eamon Ryan raised concerns about the North-South element of the matter and I omitted to comment on that on the previous occasion. If left in position, I will raise the issue at the North-South Ministerial Council meetings when the Executive is up and running again in the North.

There appear to be some concerns that the progression of technology in the future might in some way allow circumvention of the spirit and letter of this Bill. I wish to make it clear that hydraulic fracking will always require the pumping of high volumes of fluids into rock and that this activity is clearly prohibited by the Bill. I also emphasise that hydraulic fracking cannot be undertaken without the grant of a petroleum licence, and as this Bill makes it unlawful for any person to search for, get, raise, take, carry away or work petroleum by means of hydraulic fracking, no such licence could be granted.

Deputy Wallace raised a concern that the activities of the petroleum affairs division of my Department are inconsistent with the promotion of climate change. I wish to clarify in this regard that the energy White Paper aligns energy policy, climate action policy and exploration policy leading the transition to a low-carbon economy by 2050. It is important to note, however, that there will remain a significant role for natural gas, for example, as a transition fuel. If Ireland manages to benefit from the level of offshore exploration in the Atlantic margin, in terms of another hydrocarbon find, then that could have a substantial positive impact on the Irish economy such as reduced spending on imports, increased Exchequer resources for services and investment, and more opportunities for employment and local businesses.

While I acknowledge there are concerns around the impact of surveying, exploring and potentially drilling in an area of large natural habitat - issues raised by Deputy Boyd Barrett - I believe the Department's approach to understanding and managing biodiversity impacts has been hugely beneficial. There is collaboration with the National Parks and Wildlife Service in the ObSERVE programme, a pioneering piece of work to acquire new baseline data with the aim of filling existing data gaps relating to protected marine species and sites in key offshore basins.

As indicated on the Second Reading of this Bill, it is my view that considerations surrounding the use of new technologies should be scientifically examined and peer-reviewed, as was done on Committee Stage in terms of the onshore prohibition of fracking. The EPA-led research programme did precisely that. The findings of this research programme together with Deputy Tony McLoughlin's Bill were scrutinised by the Joint Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment. There is no scientific research of this type, of which I am aware, relating to the offshore, or indeed any grounds for concern in that regard. The advancement of this legislation is a real testament to cross-party co-operation. I again compliment Deputy Tony McLoughlin and thank Members for the support of the House in passing this Bill. I pay tribute to the campaigning groups present in the Gallery today and during other Stages of the Bill. I welcome the passage of the Bill.

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