Michael Kitt (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. His contribution to the debate was very useful. As he said in his opening remarks the issue has moved on considerably in the past week in that the injunction has been lifted and the five Rossport men have been released. It is a matter of regret to me, as it is to everybody in the House, that five decent men were jailed for 94 days. The Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy Noel Dempsey, have taken steps to improve the situation. The Minister announced his intention to appoint a mediator and hopes that progress can be made now that the five men have been released.

The Labour Party tabled a motion last week and many of the issues to which it referred, including independent mediation and the release of the five men, have been dealt with. Some of the issues it raised and ones that I would raise, for example the danger to the environment and health and safety matters, are still very serious issues, with which I hope the Minister will deal. It would be very useful to get Shell's views. Shell has not given much information on the issue in recent months. The Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources has probably been a better PR man than representatives of Shell.

As someone living in Mayo's neighbouring county of Galway, I have seen very little identification or quantification of the benefits for County Mayo and the north west in general. It would be useful to get some information on the proposed development in this regard. We also need to ascertain the benefits for the country. While bringing gas ashore might benefit County Galway, the midlands and perhaps the east, we have no indication of what will happen in the north west, which needs to be clarified. The Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Deputy Noel Dempsey, spoke to the media about the safety of workers, which is an issue that might be forgotten.

The rise in oil prices places urgency on finding alternative forms of energy. The infrastructure of the west is important and needs to be clarified. In considering benefits to an area, I think in particular of areas where milled peat is provided from our bogs. One would normally expect a briquette factory or that the milled peat would be used for the creation of energy. Similarly gas stations should be available as a natural follow on from having gas onshore and we should expect employment. I see no attempt by Shell to indicate the numbers in or type of employment envisaged.

Another matter which should be dealt with is the proximity of the line to people's dwellings. Advantica Consultants are to look at that issue but it amazes me that it could not have been dealt with before now. I admire much of the work the ESB does in bringing energy to the regions, particularly to the west and north west, where some of the terrain has created difficulties. However, I have gone to the ESB on numerous occasions to argue with it about the need to move a line. I have seen proposals by the ESB to bring lines across people's fields when it could easily bring them across a boundary fence, for example. I have sometimes argued that it could bring lines across forestry areas rather than placing networks and masts on very good land. As a public representative one sometimes wins a case and sometimes loses, but at least the ESB listens. I have a feeling that nobody is listening to the Rossport five or the people of north-west Mayo. That is one of the reasons the protest took place and why five people spent 94 days in prison.

Many mistakes were made in the past, perhaps in our rush to get electricity to rural areas, with huge masts being installed and lines being brought across inappropriate areas. Other Senators will no doubt agree that similar mistakes have been made with the installation of mobile telecommunications masts. Deals were done with health boards to put mobile phone masts on top of hospitals, which was most inappropriate. There was a famous deal between the Garda and a mobile phone company to put masts on top of Garda stations. I once saw a mobile phone mast placed right beside a children's playground and a national school. Permission was granted by Galway County Council but thankfully was rejected by An Bord Pleanála.

We should listen again to what people are saying. I hope that Shell will explain some of the issues which it is not explaining. Senator Norris made an important point regarding Shell's involvement in Nigeria. In 1985 I was a member of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs. We intended to visit Nigeria with a Trócaire delegation to visit the Ogoni region, but the Nigerian Government prevented us from going there, or even into Nigeria, because of our wish to go to the Ogoni region. There was no support from Shell, which I found very disappointing. While one cannot blame Shell for all the problems in the Ogoni region, the company has a case to answer with regard to environmental matters. That is one of the reasons the people in Rossport were so concerned that the pipe was coming through their area, very close to houses. They were worried about health, safety and environmental issues and knew that Shell did not have a very good track record in those areas. I welcome the fact that as the Minister of State has said, progress has been made, and I hope we will reach a resolution with regard to the pipeline.