Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will address both points. While the subject we are discussing is broad and complex in its scope, I want to reiterate that the Bill is a narrow piece of legislation. Many proposals were implemented through legislation in 2010.

On gas flaring, for the purpose of clarity and context, I would like to establish that the transposition of the offshore safety directive, which is the purpose of the Bill, is to ensure that there is consistent regulation throughout Europe with respect to the potential for a major petroleum incident. The flaring of gas is a technology that has more than one purpose. For example, in the case of a gas processing terminal, the flaring of gas can be necessary for safety reasons. When industrial plant equipment items are over pressured, the pressure relief valve is an essential safety device that automatically releases gasses and sometimes liquids. Those pressure relief valves are required by industrial design codes and standards. Any application to flare is subject to safety case assessment and permission from the Commission for Energy Regulation, CER, together with subsequent verification and auditing procedures.

More generally, where gas flaring is contentious, it is where the technology is used in the context of a producing oil field. Gas that is produced along with the oil is then sometimes flared as producing the gas would not be commercially viable. In Ireland, we do not, unfortunately, have oil production. If we have commercial oil development in the future and the flaring of gas was to be proposed, it would be subject to an environmental impact assessment, including public consultation.

Regarding unconventional gas, with regard to the conduct of unconventional gas exploration and exploitation, the offshore safety directive relates only to offshore oil and gas activities. Accordingly, this Bill relates solely to the safety regime that applies to petroleum exploration and production activities in the offshore area and has no implications whatsoever for unconventional gas exploration and exploitation. It should also be noted that a multi-agency trans-boundary programme of research on the potential impacts on the environment and human health from unconventional gas exploration and extraction projects or operations has been commissioned by the Environmental Protection Agency. That work is ongoing and it is not expected to report until the middle of 2016 at the earliest.

The research programme is broad in its scope, covering several environmental parameters as well as operational practice and regulatory approaches around the world. It would be untimely, at this point, to pre-empt the outcome of this research by prematurely seeking to introduce legislation without being fully informed on the findings of the research programme. The issue has been raised today and Senator Quinn raised it last week when he called for ongoing debate, which could not be anything but a good thing. However, because the flaring of gas and unconventional gas exploration is outside the scope of the Bill, I do not propose to accept these amendments.