Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Despite the Minister's man flu, I want him to address this very important question. Last July, quietly and without any notice to our committee or any notice on the Department's website, the Minister signed off on exploration licences for the Druid Drumbeg exploration field which is estimated to have 5 billion barrels of offshore oil.

Last week we passed Second Stage of a climate emergency Bill. I am now asking the Minister whether he is going to issue further licences, undertakings or leases for fossil fuel exploration before we deal with that Bill. It still has to go through committee and still has to be fully amended. Will the Minister respect the vote of the Dáil, which gave a clear indication to him last week, and desist from issuing any further licences?

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