Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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232. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will sign up for the EITI, along with 39 other countries, in order to raise common global reporting standards, following the G8 report; and if he does not intend to sign up for the EITI, the reasons for that decision. [10635/14]

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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I understand that the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) is a voluntary international standard which aims to ensure transparency of payments from natural resources. Chapter 10 of Directive 2013/43/EU of 26 June 2013, also known as the Accounting Directive, introduces an obligation on large undertakings and all public-interest entities active in the extractive industries or the logging of primary forests to produce and publish a report on payments made to Government on an annual basis. These provisions require to be given full effect in the legislation of all Member States by July 2015. Directive 2013/50/EU of 22 October 2013, known as the Transparency Directive, also incorporates disclosure requirements of Chapter 10 of the Accounting Directive. The provisions of the Transparency Directive require to be given full effect in the legislation of all Member States by November 2015. The disclosure requirements of the Accounting Directive and the Transparency Directive complement the efforts of the EITI by requiring disclosure along the same lines as the EITI.

The transposition into Irish law of the provisions of the Accounting Directive and the Transparency Directive, are a matter in the first instance for my colleagues the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and the Minister for Finance, respectively. On a more general note, payments that could be made to the State resulting from the on-going exploration for our natural resources of oil or gas fall into two main categories. The first category relates to application and administration fees, along with rental fees in respect of licensed acreage. The second category relates to tax paid on profits from production of oil or gas. The level of fees, or tax, to be paid is set down in the relevant legislation and licensing terms, the details of which are in the public domain.