Grace O'Sullivan (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

On 11 July last, just one week after onshore fracking was banned in Ireland, the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Denis Naughten, granted consent to Providence Resources PLC to commence drilling for oil in the Porcupine Basin off the coast of Kerry. This is one of a slew of drilling operations which the Minister has recently permitted, with the north Celtic Sea Basin off the coast of Cork and Kish Basin off Dalkey's 40-Foot swimming area next in line. They will drill for 45 to 60 days throughout the summer without a proper strategic environmental assessment. In a desperate plea for investment they have stated that they expect to find 5 billion barrels of oil.

I want to ask the Minister to the House to debate the social, environmental and economic impact of these drilling licences. In June 1991, the Irish Government declared all waters around the Irish coast to be a whale and dolphin sanctuary, the first of its kind in Europe, however the seismic blasts from exploration and drilling are deadly for marine mammals and cause disorientation, deafness and internal bleeding within 100 miles. One blast killed 64% of zoo plankton, the basis of the marine ecosystem for up to 0.7 miles.

We cannot afford to explore for or exploit any more fossil fuels. International climate experts warn that 80% of known fossil fuels must stay in the ground in order to avoid exceeding the 2 degrees limit of global warming. The Minister recently spoke to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and the IMPACT trade union on the need for a just transition to a low carbon economy. In banning fracking in working on climate action, the Minister claimed that he would protect workers in Bord na Móna, farmers and tourism, but here he shows that he has no intention of protecting their transition or providing a consistent policy pathway for green investment. In complete double speak, he is inviting the destruction of our coastal fishing, seaweed and tourism industries and our marine ecosystems for one of the lowest Government tax takes for oil and gas in the world. Extraction of oil and gas from Irish seas is not even profitable. Shell Oil recently left the Corrib gas field with losses of €2 billion. The granting of these licences is a slap in the face for young people of Ireland. As one peer-reviewed study in Earth System Dynamics has noted, "if massive emission reductions do not begin soon, the burden placed on young people to extract CO²emitted by prior generation may become implausibly difficult and costly."

This new fossil fuel infrastructure investment will lock Ireland into a completely discredited economic model that serves neither people nor planet. Recently, I put down amendments to the fracking Bill to ban offshore fracking and all fossil fuel exploration which was very well received in the south. I call on the Minister to revoke these licences and follow France's lead by halting permission for oil and gas exploration in Irish waters.