Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 258: To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the progress to date in developing and marketing natural resources; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45337/10]

Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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I would draw the Deputy's attention to the high-level goal specified in the Strategy Statement of the Department, which is to manage our river, mineral, hydrocarbon and other geological resources in a sustainable and productive manner. To this end the Department is committed to encouraging exploration for and extraction of Ireland's mineral and hydrocarbon resources to maximise their contribution to the national economy, with due regard to social and environmental impact.

In the case of non-hydrocarbon minerals, exploration and development is undertaken by private enterprise and regulated under the Minerals Development Acts, 1940 to 1999, and the Department is undertaking a major consolidation and modernisation of this code which I expect to bring before the House next year. I would point out that the minerals and hydrocarbon industries are global and as a consequence, the level of exploration activity in Ireland reflects worldwide market trends, in particular metal, oil and gas prices.

Against that background, the Department actively promotes Ireland as an attractive location for mineral, oil and gas exploration and development, through the active promotion of Ireland's mineral and petroleum potential and the holding of regular competition and licensing rounds. With regard to minerals, the Department, jointly with its Northern Ireland counterparts, is represented at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) Convention, Trade Show and Investors Exchange in Toronto, Canada, which is the largest annual international meeting of its type in the world. It has also initiated a number of exploration support measures such as an ongoing data release programme under which all non-confidential exploration data is released into the public domain via an industry-focused website (www.mineralsireland.ie). There are 500 currently active prospecting licences in Ireland with over 30 companies involved in minerals exploration.

In the case of petroleum, the proactive approach in relation to promotion is reflected in the 2011 Atlantic Margin Licensing Round, which closes at the end of May next year. The 2011 Round represents a new and innovative initiative to boost the level of exploration activity in the Irish offshore. The Round, which is Ireland's largest to date, covers an area of approximately 250,000 square kilometres and includes all of Ireland's major Atlantic sedimentary basins with proven petroleum systems.

There have been a number of discoveries of oil and gas in the Irish Offshore in recent years, however none of these has been declared commercial to date. The only petroleum discovery that has been declared commercial but has yet to be developed is the Corrib Gas Field. Construction of the Corrib Gas Terminal at Bellanaboy is almost completed as are the subsea facilities and the offshore section of the Corrib gas pipeline. The developers are engaged in the process of securing a number of statutory consents required for the construction of the onshore section of the gas pipeline.

In the case of inland fisheries, in July 2010, I restructured the fisheries service management and established Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI), a single national authority to replace the existing Central and 7 regional fisheries boards. The new legislation provides that the functions of IFI include conservation, protection, management, marketing, development and improvement of the inland fisheries resource. I have every expectation that the new organisation is best equipped to meet the challenges of facilitating exploitation of the inland fisheries resource on an equitable and sustainable basis.