Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

It is not a scandalous remark. When the dispute began, the issue was local jobs. It then became an issue of safety, as if it is safer to carry out the process in turbulent waters than on land. Extraordinary measures have been taken to ensure the safety of the process, the most recent being An Bord Pleanála's decision to build a tunnel under Sruwaddacon Bay, an absolutely extraordinary decision whatever way one looks at it. People who were previously all about Shell to Sea have become converts to Shell out of Ireland. There is no point in pretending otherwise - let us call a spade a spade. In a warmer summer there would have been more people seeking to delay construction.