Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

When the Bill was first devised by Senator Quinn, he did much work on international comparisons. This is a straightforward piece of legislation, as Senator Quinn rightfully stated, which will help the small guy in particular and bring some order to the industry after the considerable disorder we have seen in the past.

It is not intended to deal with large plcs, even though it does. In the area of construction, we are typically referring to residential and commercial construction, not mining exploration. The Bill’s objective was to streamline matters similarly to the UK, which also excludes mining exploration. There is nothing untoward in its exclusion from this Bill. Mining simply is not within its ambit. I apologise, as I am not expert enough to discuss the larger issue of Shell.