Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I am delighted that the five men from Rossport have been released but I am disappointed that it has taken so long for certain issues to be settled. When this matter first arose, the Fine Gael Party leader, Deputy Kenny, stated on the first day of the debate in the Dáil what he felt needed to be done: that a mediator should be put in place, a safety audit be carried out on the line from the shore to the terminal, and that work on the project should cease in the interim. All this has now happened, but meanwhile, the Rossport men spent 94 days in jail in order to protect their families and loved ones. It is sad that it had to come to that.

Much has already been said on this issue and it is difficult to debate it in the limited time we have. I was a member of Mayo County Council when gas was first discovered in the Corrib basin. The people of Mayo were delighted at the huge gas find off the west coast. The proposal at the time was that the gas would be taken in through the county, while the gas company had the option of taking it in through Killybegs, through Mayo or through Galway. The Mayo County Council members wanted the gas taken in through County Mayo, and the rest is history.

The main issue now is one of safety. I am pleased that the safety auditor is carrying out his work and will be reporting shortly. Either the line from the shore to the terminal is safe or it is not. If not, the Minister will not be able to sign the consent form, and other methods will have to be found if the gas is to be taken ashore. Safety is the kernel. Everyone's safety is important because the loss of even one life would not be compensated for by any amount of gas found or taken in to the terminal in County Mayo.

The Minister of State made four points. He said that the gas find would act as a catalyst for the extension of the Bord Gáis distribution system to the towns and regions; that it would facilitate the improvement of the Mayo region's infrastructure, particularly its electricity supply and distribution network; that it would increase local employment in the short and long term; and that it would also increase Ireland's security of supply by providing a reliable indigenous source of gas, since, with the current increase in oil prices, the strategic value of indigenous gas obviously increases.

Are we to take it from what the Minister of State said that there will be spur lines to Castlebar, Ballina, Westport, Claremorris, Ballinrobe and Belmullet? As I understand it, for towns such as Belmullet in particular, which is the town closest to the gas find, one has to get EU approval for spur lines on the basis of viability and justifiability. The Minister of State might explain that to us, because there are companies in Mayo such as Baxter and Allergan which are waiting for gas, and want it, and see gas as their only means of survival and viability within the region.