Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

An application from Cnooc Petroleum Europe Limited, which was previously known as Nexen Petroleum UK Ltd., to drill in the Porcupine Basin was submitted on 14 November 2018. The application was posted on the Department's website for public consultation and no decision has been made. Exxon Mobil has a 50% non-operating interest in the licence. An application is considered against a range of technical, environmental and financial requirements. In addition, the operator must obtain a safety permit from the Commission for Regulation of Utilities and approval by the Irish Coast Guard for the company's oil spill contingency plan and the well emergency response plan.

On the question of whether this complies with our objective of becoming a world leader in getting rid of fossil fuels, I repeat what I said last night. The challenge here is how we transition from where we are now to being without fossil fuels. As the Deputy will know, we have depleting gas supplies from the Corrib and Kinsale fields. We have to make sure we have security of energy supplies in this country.

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