Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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811. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources further to Parliamentary Question No. 620 of 5 July 2016, if his Department, in preparing for issuing the licences in the Atlantic Margin oil and gas exploration licensing round, carried out an environmental impact assessment of the potential effect that further oil and gas exploration could have on climate change; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22840/16]

Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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EU Directive 2001/42/EC, commonly known as the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Directive, provides for a formal environmental assessment of certain plans and programmes which are likely to have significant effects on the environment.  The Directive applies to plans or programmes instigated on or after 21 July 2004. The Directive was transposed into Irish Law by way of Statutory Instrument Number 435 of 2004.

In relation to the licensing of petroleum exploration, the Directive requires Member States to undertake an SEA prior to proceeding with a programme of licensing. Since 2004, my Department has completed five SEAs in advance of holding licensing rounds.

Over the period 2014 to 2015, and in advance of the 2015 Atlantic Margin Licensing Round, my Department undertook Irish Offshore Strategic Environmental Assessment 5 (IOSEA5), the objective of which was to inform the Department of specific environmental considerations in respect of future petroleum activities under licensing rounds in Ireland's Atlantic Margin basins, as well as the award of licences in the Celtic and Irish Seas. In addition, IOSEA5 was intended to provide exploration companies working offshore with an operational baseline against which they can undertake their work and ensure the protection of the marine environment. The impact of petroleum exploration activities on climate was one of the issues considered in the IOSEA5 process.

The full suite of documentation regarding IOSEA5 and previous IOSEAs can be found on my Department’s website atwww.dcenr.gov.ie.