Grace O'Sullivan (Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Today the Dáil will vote on the Petroleum and Other Minerals Development (Amendment) (Climate Emergency Measures) Bill 2018, introduced by Deputy Bríd Smith. It is similar to a Bill the Green Party has put forward on this issue. That Deputy Smith's party and mine have produced these Bills indicates the groundswell of public support for a sea change in politics recognising the need to keep fossil fuels in the ground. The Minister of State might have noted today that the singer Cher has personally asked our Taoiseach, Deputy Leo Varadkar, to support the Petroleum and Other Minerals Development (Amendment) (Climate Emergency Measures) Bill. It is time to believe in life after oil.

To map the seabed for fossil fuel exploration, sonic cannons, also known as seismic airguns, are towed behind boats to create dynamite-like blasts, which are repeated every ten seconds for 24 hours per day for days and weeks at a time.The blasts reach acoustic levels 100,000 times more intense than a jet engine. The tests are conducted every summer without ever being subject to a comprehensive environmental impact assessment.

In July 2017 when the Minister of State, Deputy Seán Kyne, granted consent to drill in the Porcupine Bank area, I spoke to the Seanad about how fossil fuel exploration was deadly for Ireland’s sealife and how drilling and seismic airgun testing led to deafness and disorientation among dolphins, whales and porpoises for up to 100 miles. A deaf whale is a dead whale. In fact, over Christmas I helped with the removal of a dead bottlenose dolphin which had been stranded on Tramore beach. We sent the remains to University College Cork for an autopsy to discover why it had died. The number of strandings recorded has increased by 30% since 2016 alone. I have spoken about how in June 1991 the Government made Ireland a whale and dolphin sanctuary. I inform the House that new research from the ObSERVE programme, commissioned in 2015 by the petroleum affairs division of the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment, shows that, as amazing as our seas were to warrant protected status, we have actually overlooked just how incredible they are.

A few days after making my speech and mere weeks after consent to drill in the area was given, Ireland’s deepest cold water coral reefs were found in the Porcupine Bank. Also in late 2017, UCC, from research commissioned by the Department’s ObSERVE programme, released information which showed that every summer 250,000 bottlenose dolphins came to Irish waters; that last year Ireland had the highest numbers of blue and fin whale sightings ever recorded; and that there were 50% more whales and dolphins in our waters than we had ever thought possible. The blue whale is the largest mammal on the planet, while the fin whale is second largest and they are both to be found in Irish waters.

To give an example of this incredible ocean wealth, let me focus on the Porcupine Bank area off the south west coast of County Kerry, near the Cathaoirleach's homeland. The Porcupine Bank is home to some of the deepest and most unique cold water coral reefs ever found. Along the cliff face in 2015 the Celtic Explorerfound near vertical habitats full of species of coral, sponges, crab and fish. Last year the Granuailefound reefs at depths of 1,600 m in areas of the Porcupine Bank and continental shelf which had already been licensed for oil and gas exploration. Coral reefs are the building blocks of a healthy and flourishing marine ecosystem. They provide food and shelter and are breeding grounds and refuges for fish. They balance the ecosystem at a time of increased ocean acidification due to climate change. They are also essential in providing support for krill and plankton – the basis of the marine ecosystem. However, since 2013 the level of oil and gas exploration in the Porcupine Bank has intensified to the point where it is now the primary focus of fossil fuel exploration in Ireland. The surprise is that the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment in the first place risks seismic exploration or drilling in the Porcupine Bank area when it is the home of healthy mackerel spawning grounds and, formerly, large migrating tuna populations. Ireland’s biggest fishing quota and thus our biggest industry under the Common Fisheries Policy is for mackerel. As I have stated before, seismic testing kills 100% of krill, or zooplankton, larvae and 64% of adult krill for a distance of up to 0.7 miles. Fishermen are reporting a dramatic fall in the tuna and whale populations in the Porcupine Bank area and that certain species no longer live there. This is most likely due to the kill-off of krill larvae as a result of the five years of oil and gas exploration and seismic testing.

I ask the Government to carry out as soon as possible an environmental impact assessment of the area of the Porcupine Bank where it is conducting research to ensure we will have the evidence to prove to the Minister of State and the Government that we must keep oil in the ground. We have to support the Bill before the House today. I ask the Minister of State for his answer to that question.

Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising this very topical issue. The Government is fully committed to tackling climate change and protecting the oceans, but it has no plans to ban oil and gas prospecting offshore. Ireland’s transition to a low carbon energy future will involve progressively moving to lower emission fuels, for example, moving initially from peat and coal to natural gas and, ultimately, towards an even greater reliance on renewable energy. In that regard, the Government has introduced a range of policy measures and schemes to incentivise the use of renewable energy and deliver energy efficiency. However, oil and natural gas will remain significant elements of Ireland’s energy supply in the transition period.

The Corrib gas field demonstrates the impact indigenous supplies can have on Ireland’s import dependency. It went from importing 89% of its overall energy needs in 2015 to 70% in 2016. However, production from the Corrib gas field will peak and decline from 2019 onwards. Thereafter we will become increasingly dependent on imports of gas and be dependent on imports for 100% of our oil.

I note that the Minister of State with responsibility for natural resources has invited the joint committee to hold a broad policy debate on national energy policy to consider issues of competitiveness, sustainability, security of energy supply and Ireland’s offshore exploration policy. Such a debate would inform future legislation in this area.

The Government was not in a position to support the Solidarity Bill debated in the Dáil yesterday evening. If passed ,it would not reduce Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions or change or reduce our use of fossil fuels. It would, however, lock Ireland into permanent dependency on imports to meet our future fossil fuel needs after the decline in supplies from the Corrib gas field.

There are several elements to regulating the industry's exploration activities offshore. In 2015 the Irish offshore strategic environmental study, IOSEA5, process was completed with the adoption of a plan underpinning IOSEA5 and publication of the IOSEA5 statement. The objectives of IOSEA5 were to inform the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment of specific environmental considerations in its future petroleum activities in licensing rounds in the Atlantic margin basins, as well as informing the award of licences in the Celtic Sea and the Irish Sea and providing exploration companies working offshore with an operational baseline against which they could conduct their work and ensure the protection of the marine environment.

Applicants to the Department are required to submit an environmental impact risk assessment and a Natura impact screening appropriate assessment statement in support of their application to commence surveying or exploration drilling activities. A review is undertaken for the Department by an independent consultancy appointed for its expertise in ecological and conservation marine biology. The review of the application considers,inter alia, the effects of seismic sources on adult fish, as well as eggs and larvae, based on the information provided in the application and additional scientific sources. There are also other steps, including consultation with fishing representative bodies, a requirement to have marine mammal observers on board vessels and engagement with fishery liaison officers.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I know that the Senator is very passionate about this issue, but we are well over time. I will allow her to asks a brief supplementary question. I am sure the Minister of State's answer does not meet with her approval.

Grace O'Sullivan (Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I will be brief. The Minister of State and the Government are swimming against the tide, but they have every opportunity to embrace renewable clean energy sources. This is an opportunity to back out of the Porcupine Bank and move towards the use of renewable energy sources. As I said, the Government is swimming against the tide. It is driving us down a big abyss which will not do the country or future generations any good. I will be pursuing this issue because it is the reason I am in the Seanad. I will pursue it with the Minister of State and the Government for as long as I can until they develop some sense on the issue.

Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I take issue with the Senator's use of the words "some sense". I was Chairman of the Joint Committee on Communications, Natural Resources and Agriculture in the last Dáil when it discussed energy policy.I was also a member of the previous committee on climate change and energy security and we did a lot of work on renewable energy. There is resistance all over the country to every type of renewable energy that is available. People say they do not want it. They do not want wind energy, solar energy, anaerobic digestion or biomass. We are saying one thing and doing another. People do not want wind energy or pump storage. I can see Turlough Hill from my kitchen window. The water is pumped up at night with energy generated from off-peak wind. It is the most clean and effective of all types of renewable energy but that would not be allowed to be developed nowadays. In the late 1960s it was considered a miracle. Environmentalists would not let us do it anymore. We must be honest.

In the previous Dáil we were criticised for not harnessing enough of a share of the exploitation of natural resources so we did a big study on managing the offshore oil and gas resources with a profit resource rent tax. A lot of work was done on an all-party basis on how it should be configured. I accept there were no Green Party Members in the previous Oireachtas. The work sought to ensure there would be benefit to the State from profits accruing. I accept that we have moved on and we continue to make progress. As the opening statement outlined, this is a transition period but if we just do what the Bill suggests we will only increase our dependence on imported energy as we would be locked into that until we find alternatives. We are all at one in terms of trying to get alternatives as quickly as possible.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

To coin a phrase, the Minister of State is between the devil and the deep blue sea.

Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

That is a very apt phrase.