Jerry Cowley (Mayo, Independent)
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Question 337: To ask the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources if he will acknowledge the great potential in terms of hydrocarbon resources that the North Atlantic has to offer and that these waters are under explored with only nine exploration wells drilled in the past 10 years with recent oil industry assessments of yet to find resource potential indicating in excess of 10 billion barrels of oil, which can be effectively and efficiently explored using modern technology and evaluation methods, which is in contradiction to his Department's pessimism of hydro carbon resources potential; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37568/06]

Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)
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The information in the Deputy's question came primarily from work undertaken by my Department. This work was presented by my Department in a paper at its conference in Dublin last week on "Exploring Atlantic Ireland". That paper specifically referred to the fact that the Irish offshore is under-explored with only ten exploration wells drilled since 1994 although an assessment of yet to find resource potential would indicate in the region of 10 billion barrels of oil. Accordingly, it is clear that I am not at all pessimistic in relation to Ireland's hydrocarbon resource potential. I am, however, realistic and am aware of the high cost involved in exploring for hydrocarbons in the deep waters of the Atlantic.

The key words in the Deputy's question are "potential" and "yet to find". Ireland may describe its prospectivity in the Atlantic Margin in terms of potential whereas in other provinces such as the UK and Norway their prospectivity is described as "proven". These figures give an honest assessment of what may be found offshore Ireland, but we need the industry to undertake the high-cost and high-risk activity of exploration to find these hydocarbons.