Jerry Cowley (Mayo, Independent)
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I am grateful for the opportunity to raise this important matter on the Adjournment. The people of Erris, who have been compelled to have the Corrib gas upstream pipeline adjacent to their homes, are scared out of their minds. They have discovered, through the Minister's replies to my parliamentary questions, that no independent quantified risk assessment has been carried out on the Corrib gas upstream pipeline which passes near their homes.

When I phoned the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, I was informed that an independent QRA was carried out by Andrew Johnston on 28 March 2002. When I read the Johnston report, which the Department supplied, I was convinced that it was not a QRA. I subsequently learned from the Minister's replies to my parliamentary questions and from Shell that the Johnston report is not the QRA and is just a desk study of what the Department is now calling the QRA. The document referred to by the Minister as the QRA was "in fact a quantified risk assessment report commissioned by the then named developers in 2001, Enterprise Energy (Ireland) Limited, on the onshore pipeline". The QRA "was undertaken by a firm of consultants, J.P. Kenny, on behalf of the developer who himself had worked on the design brief for the pipeline and on which the QRA was based". This is scandalous because J.P. Kenny conducted the QRA on his own work. Where is the independence?

There is more. To me the old saying, "He who pays the piper calls the tune," sets the agenda here. I asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and National Resources, Deputy Noel Dempsey, to make available for public examination the quantified risk assessment report commissioned by Enterprise Energy (Ireland) in 2001 on the Corrib gas pipeline. He replied to my parliamentary question on 1 March 2005: "Since the QRA report forms part of the deliberate process under which Shell has sought consent to install and commission the pipeline, it would not be appropriate to release the report at this stage." I do not know exactly what that means except that for some reason the Minister does not want the report released. I had asked the Department and Shell for this report to be released, but this did not happen. Why is it that this report is not being released? Is there something to hide? People believe there must be something to hide when it is not being released. Is there something the people are not supposed to know? Who knows?

I also asked the Minister in the same parliamentary question, which was answered on 1 March, whether he thought that the Enterprise Energy (Ireland) report was acceptable as an independent QRA since it was commissioned by the industrial promoters of the project, and whether he would consider commissioning an independent QRA in view of the health and safety concerns of the residents in the Erris area. I ask that again because I did not get an answer to it. The Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources is responsible for this situation and for the safety of the residents since it is the Department that has given Shell permission to proceed. How can the Department reassure the residents, in the absence of an independent QRA, that everything is all right and that it is safe to live there?

One local resident who is familiar with fire hydrants says the 10 bar water pressure produced by a fire hydrant would pin a man against a wall at 50 yards. Yet the pipeline is designed for 345 bar pressure and will be 150 bar initially. This man has to live beside the pipeline with his family, and he is very concerned. These are serious concerns. Serious health and safety questions are involved. How can the residents of Erris be reassured? Releasing the QRA for public inspection would be a first valuable step and commissioning an independent QRA would also be essential. Would the Minister of State live beside the pipeline without an independent QRA or where the QRA has been commissioned by developers? I would not. The people need reassurance and answers and are not getting them.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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I am addressing this issue on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Communications and Natural Resources, Deputy Noel Dempsey.

The Minister stated in a recent parliamentary question reply to which Deputy Cowley alludes that he does not intend to release the quantitative risk assessment carried out for the onshore pipeline as it now forms part of the deliberative process in connection with the application for consent to install the onshore pipeline which he has received from the developers of the Corrib Gas field. In these circumstances it would not be appropriate for the Minister to release the QRA at present.

The QRA report carried out on the onshore section of the pipeline addressed and carried out an assessment on the risks present during the operational phase of the onshore section of the pipeline only, that is, the section between the mean low water mark and the first isolation valve upstream of the big trap in the terminal. The purpose of this assessment was to identify and assess all risks associated with the operation of the onshore section of the pipeline.

The assessment makes recommendations for risk reduction where appropriate and demonstrates that the residual risk associated with the operation of the onshore pipeline have been reduced to tolerable levels. It showed that even in the worst case of the pipeline being ruptured and the gas being ignited, the occupants of a building 70 metres away would be safe. The design of the pipeline means that the risk of such an event or any other type of gas escape is infinitesimally small. The Deputy will be aware that the QRA formed part of the information supplied by the developers to the Minister's predecessor, Deputy Fahey, with their application to construct a pipeline. He commissioned an independent assessment on the pipeline design code by Mr. Andrew Johnston, a very reputable petroleum pipeline consultant. Mr. Johnston's study covered design, methodology, operating conditions, pipeline commissioning, public safety, welding and testing, pipeline material and quality and protection from interference.

Mr. Johnston's report suggested certain updating of the QRA and the developers duly agreed to carry this out. Mr. Johnston's report was entitled Corrib Gas Pipeline Project: Report on Evaluation of the Onshore Pipeline Design Code and was submitted at the end of March 2002. The report, a copy of which has been provided to Deputy Cowley and many other persons in north-west Mayo, makes a number of recommendations for risk reduction where appropriate. Mr. Johnston's conclusions were as follows. The pipeline design code has been selected in accordance with best public safety considerations and is appropriate for the pipeline operating conditions. The design of the onshore pipeline is generally in accordance with code selection and best national and international industry practice, provided that the actions recommended in section 2.2 of his report are followed. The pipeline is considered to be adequately protected from third party interference by burial to a depth of approximately 1.2 m and provision of marker tape above the pipeline. The pipeline is considered to meet public safety requirements as outlined in the selected design code, provided that the actions recommended in section 2.2 are followed. The recommendations of section 2.2 of Mr. Johnston's report have been incorporated in the statutory approvals issued for the Corrib pipeline development.

As the Minister stated, his Department is considering an application for consent to install the onshore pipeline. Both the QRA and the Johnston report will form part of this process. In so far as there may be issues in the QRA that need further clarification, elaboration or even additional material, Mr. Johnston will provide the necessary advice for the Department.

Prior to approval for the production of first gas the Minister will need to be satisfied that condition 3 of his approval of the plan of development has been complied with. This condition states, inter alia, that all production operations regarding Corrib be conducted according to all requirements of the rules and procedures for offshore petroleum production operations. It also requires, prior to commencement of gas production, the receipt of a letter or letters of acceptance for all Corrib installations, pipelines and associated engineering infrastructure from the Minister's auditor indicating that third party independent verification has been carried out and completed satisfactorily on the development.