Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle. We need a commitment or guarantee from the Government on this issue that any parts of the decommissioned oil and gas rigs that are left behind are left as such solely because it is the most environmentally sound way of doing this and that no parts of them can be used in any circumstances as part of any new projects.

On the broader point, I echo what Deputy Bríd Smith said. I listened to the contribution of Deputy Matthews. Last Tuesday, the Green Party announced on its Facebook page and across the media that it was banning oil and gas exploration. It seemed to be a good news story following years of campaigning by environmental activists, following Deputy Bríd Smith's Prohibition of Fossil Fuels (Keep it in the Ground) Bill. A couple of hours later, we had the announcement that Providence Resources had been given permission to push ahead with the next steps for the drilling of the Barryroe gas field. It seems that even the company's investors were surprised at their luck, with the share price jumping by 5%. This sums up the two-faced nature of the Green Party. It sent out press statements claiming to be tackling the big oil and gas companies at exactly the same time as the green light was given to those same companies' plans. The Green Party should be ashamed of itself. It is time to take on big oil and gas companies, stop their destructive plans and keep these resources in the ground.

I would also like to comment on the need for a fuller review of the Dumping at Sea Act 1996. We must protect our oceans much more, not just from dumping but from damaging trawling practices. Many big trawling companies still engage in so-called "bottom trawling", which is incredibly damaging to our oceans. It ploughs up the bottom of the oceans, destroying habitats in the process and releasing large amounts of carbon. The UK has banned this practice in a number of protected marine areas. We should be leading the way in banning this practice. In 2010, the Government promised to designate 10% of our seas as marine protected areas but 11 years later, we are still at only 2.4%. We must protect our oceans, the habitats in them and the carbon stored in the sea floor. We must stop their destruction by massive trawling companies and other big businesses that are dumping waste in our seas.

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