Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome everybody in the Gallery. I commend all the people who have brought us to where we are today with the Bill. I know exactly what Senator O'Sullivan is trying to do with the amendment and I completely appreciate it. The reason I do is because I am from the area of the Corrib gas project. I saw, followed, witnessed and lived through everything that happened with regard to the project and what continues to happen when we see unemployment rates at more than 30% and our gas flowing out to be followed by oil and everything else. We also lived through the seismic testing that was done offshore and the subsequent earthquake.We might say there is no connection but there are too many coincidences.

There were attempts - in some cases successful - to divide the community on the topic. If a person was not 100% in one box, he or she had to be in the other box. I agree with every word in the amendment, without reservation, but his amendment deals with offshore exploration and extending the ban to conventional gas and oil extraction, and it is not what the Bill intends. I also recognise the absolute urgency for communities around what needs to be done to prevent fracking. I am frightened of my life of fracking and the possibility that fracking could be allowed onshore. This in no way diminishes how I feel about anything done offshore. We have often cited the true map of Ireland and our offshore exploration.

With regard to an outright ban on all exploration, the banning of conventional offshore gas and oil exploration was not the intention of this Bill and nor does it seem to be the immediate concern for all those people involved with the community groups across Leitrim, Sligo, Clare and Mayo. They, like me, are all fearful of the awful consequences that fracking could have on the environment and health. We should remember that once fracking starts, there is no end. Once there is a foothold, it will be impossible to get those companies out. The offshore environment is very different when it comes to exploration. The intention of the amendment is that Ireland would never use any oil or gas found off its shores, as other countries have done, such as in Norway, where the state has seen benefit from it. We would always have advocated the Norwegian model and how the Norwegian Government stood up to oil and gas exploration methods. We were ignored right through a decade and beyond.

Our aim should be to phase out fossil fuels and create a greener and more self-sufficient island when it comes to energy. We must be realistic. The timeframe is relatively long, considering the technology available. What storage technology is there for renewable energy, for example? We hope that technology will advance. We need a realistic timeframe for the phasing out of fossil fuels and mapping of the alternatives. This should be our priority. I desperately want to see this Bill going through so we can deal with onshore fracking. I would absolutely support what is being said in the amendment today at another stage when we seriously consider offshore drilling and everything else, including deals being done and the protection of our environment and citizens. I cannot support the amendment today but I look forward to seeing it on the table in future so we can deal with it in another context.