John Whelan (Labour)

The report is important in that it puts to rest much of the wishful thinking and fanciful discussion that often surrounds debate on the issue. Every once in a while information appears to suggest that oil has been found off Dalkey but we must remind ourselves that it is Dalkey and not Dallas we are talking about. I concur with the Minister's position in that I am reluctant to race to imposing more stringent or severe tax penalties on energy exploration. We must encourage exploration rather than discourage it.

Senator White is not present but some years ago when Mr. Padraic White was chief executive of the IDA he pointed out that one of the difficulties they had in attracting investment was that people were reluctant to give up any portion of their idea or project and would rather see it wither on the vine than hand over any element of it. What I am saying is that 20% of an enterprise that is productive is better than 100% of an idea that is not realised.

Sometimes we have a very strange view of things. I am not someone who is in any way dismissive of environmental concerns - on the contrary - but one would have to ask whether these can act as a deterrent. We hope for all sorts of discoveries off our shores, but the minute we do find something - we have done so only sparingly so far - we try to impede it by protesting and objecting. We must consider the practical realities and try to achieve a balanced and sustainable way of using our resources if we strike oil off the west coast.

With the permission of the Acting Chairman, I would like to deviate slightly from the subject of natural resources. Rather than talking about resources we would like to have, we should concentrate on exploiting properly the resources we actually have. The finest and best natural resource in this country is water. No one can dispute this, as it does not seem to have stopped raining this year. I will take this opportunity to ask the Minister, through his good offices around the Cabinet table and as Minister with direct responsibility for the semi-state company, Bord na Móna, to expedite and embrace its project to establish at Garryhinch the first reservoir to be built in this country in 70 years, because Dublin and the Leinster region are running out of water. It is our most important natural resource and is central to all industrial development as well as being used for agricultural, domestic and commercial purposes. It is absurd to have any further delay on this project, which has been kicking around for the last decade. In terms of natural resources, that is something we need to expedite.

With regard to resources we do have, there is a proud tradition in the Castlecomer-Crettyard area of coal mining. Its coalfield has become redundant over recent decades, but with the advent of modern technology and machinery, it could be revived. There is a tradition of coal mining in the area and there are men who have first-hand knowledge of mining coal, many of whom are unemployed. Ireland is importing coal, but there is a viable coal seam in that region. Perhaps the Minister would find out within his Department why there is such an undue delay in issuing a licence in the Castlecomer-Crettyard area to extract the resources that are there, which would result in import substitution and eliminate the need to bring in coal from Poland and elsewhere. This would result in the production of hundreds of tonnes of coal, worth tens of millions to the economy, and would put 50 to 70 men back to bountiful work. I beg the Minister's indulgence on these points, which are connected to the issue we are discussing.