Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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988. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he will confirm that his Department has engaged consultants (details supplied) to independently assess and audit the monitoring regime which is believed to be in place for past and current phases of the proposed Corrib gas project; if he will provide to Dáil Éireann a copy of his Department's terms of reference to this company in its role as independent consultant; if the terms of reference set had due regard to all European Union environmental laws and regulations, and if he will provide clarity on whether, should undiscovered, leading to unprosecuted, breaches of European Union environmental law or regulations occur during the monitoring phases of the proposed project, liability for such breaches is covered by the company's indemnity insurance, or if it would revert on the State's taxpayers; if he will provide details of all payments to date from his Department to the company; and if he will provide all details of payments to his Department from Shell E&P Ireland Limited (Shell), in respect of the project monitoring committee, which has held 26 meetings to date. [20118/15]

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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Following a public procurement process, my Department appointed Environ UK Ltd to assist the Department in monitoring compliance by the developers of the Corrib gas project with the conditions of the consents granted in February 2011 to construct the Corrib gas pipeline and an addendum of modifications to the already approved Corrib Plan of Development. Environ’s role includes, but is not limited to:

- the carrying out of onsite monitoring including spot checks on the construction activities of the Corrib Partners to determine compliance with the consent conditions;

- reporting on a regular basis to my Department;

- attending meetings of the Consent Conditions Monitoring Committee established pursuant to the above consents; and

- liaising with other relevant authorities with respect to ensuring the implementation of the consent conditions.

Responsibility for adherence to the conditions of the mentioned consents is a matter for the developer and Environ’s role is to assist my Department in monitoring compliance by the developer. I will arrange to have a copy of the Terms of Reference for this consultancy to be forwarded to the Deputy.

The contract, awarded to Environ UK Limited, commenced in June 2011. The total sum of payments made to date under the contract in respect of invoices submitted by Environ to the Department for the period June 2011 to March 2015 inclusive, is €772,624.80 (including VAT).

To date the Department has recouped from Shell Exploration and Production Ireland Ltd (SEPIL) a total of €738,961 in respect of fees/VAT payable in respect of the Environ contract for the period June 2011 to January 2015 inclusive. A request for a further reimbursement of fees covering the period February to June 2015 will be issued to SEPIL in mid July 2015.