Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)
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31. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if his Department will conduct any studies into the increased threat of environmental problems from fracking in areas that are prone to flooding in view of such experiences in parts of the United States. [4117/14]

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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I have stated on a number of occasions that I do not propose to consider applications for petroleum authorisations in respect of projects proposing the use of hydraulic fracturing until the EPA Research Programme has concluded and there has been time to consider its findings.

In November of last year the EPA launched a call for tenders, with the selection process to conclude by March this year, to appoint the relevant expertise to conduct detailed research into the potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing on the environment. The research will consider baseline characterisation with regard to water, seismic and air quality, potential impacts and mitigations and best practice regulatory framework.

I have also made it clear that should the EPA research conclude that this technology can be used in a manner that protects the environment, that any application for an exploration licence that proposed the use of hydraulic fracturing as part of an unconventional gas exploration programme would be subject to a full environmental impact assessment. An environmental impact assessment entails consideration of the potential impacts of a project on population, fauna, flora, soil, water, air, climatic factors, material assets, including the architectural and archaeological heritage, landscape and the inter-relationship between the above factors. Under the EIA Directive, it is not possible to permit a project unless it can be determined following assessment that it would not have an unacceptable environmental or social impact.