Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the level of public inquiry that was made before the granting of an exploration licence to Providence Resources at Dalkey, County Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43732/12]

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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Standard Exploration Licence 2/11 was granted last year to a consortium comprising Providence Resources Plc and Star Energy Oil and Gas Ltd. The licence, which is a follow-on authorisation to Licensing Option 08/2, covers an area of approximately 380 square kilometres in the Kish Bank Basin off the Dublin/Wicklow coast. The award of this exploration licence confers on the holder the exclusive right to search for petroleum in the licensed area, but does not confer a right to produce/extract petroleum and therefore did not require a public consultation phase.

In the event that the exploration activity under this licence resulted in a commercial discovery being made then the licensees would require a number of statutory approvals for a production project, including a petroleum lease and a plan of development consent from the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. Other relevant statutory consents could include an IPPC Licence from the EPA, a Foreshore Licence from the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government and a planning and development consent from An Bord Pleanála. All of these consent processes would be subject to an environmental impact assessment, which would include a full public consultation phase.