Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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1445. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the way in which the granting of an offshore oil exploration licence for a company (details supplied) is compliant with his commitment to take action in reducing carbon emissions and taking action to prevent climate change; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37784/17]

Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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Four commercial gas discoveries and no commercial oil discoveries have been made since exploration began in the Irish Offshore. The Irish Atlantic Margin remains substantively underexplored and its actual potential will not be known without a significant increase in the level of exploration and in particular exploration drilling.

The Energy White Paper “Ireland's Transition to a Low Carbon Energy Future 2015-2030” sets out a vision and framework to guide Irish energy policy and the actions that Government intends to take in the energy sector from now up to 2030, aimed at transforming Ireland's fossil-fuel based energy sector into a clean, low carbon system by 2050. This ambitious vision for Ireland’s energy system envisages a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from that sector by 80-95% relative to 1990 levels by 2050. The White Paper identifies the long-term strategic importance of diversifying Ireland's energy generation portfolio and largely decarbonising the energy sector by 2050.

Ireland’s transition to a low carbon energy future will involve progressively moving to lower emissions fuels e.g. moving initially from peat and coal to natural gas, and ultimately towards an even greater reliance on renewable energy. In that regard, the Government has introduced a range of policy measures and schemes to incentivise the use of renewable energy and deliver energy efficiency.

The White Paper recognises that oil and natural gas will remain significant elements of Ireland’s energy supply in the transition period.  

Ireland currently sources all its oil from abroad. Ireland sources its gas supply from the Kinsale fields (Kinsale, Ballycotton and Seven Heads), the Corrib field and the gas pipeline from Moffat in Scotland. Corrib and Kinsale are not in a position to meet all of Ireland’s annual gas demand and so Ireland will continue to rely on gas via the United Kingdom for the foreseeable future. The Kinsale fields are expected to cease production by 2021 while Corrib production is projected to decrease to 50 per cent of its initial levels by 2025.

Taking this into account, successful exploration in Ireland’s Atlantic Margin has the potential to deliver significant and sustained benefits to Irish society and the economy, particularly in terms of enhanced security of supply and import substitution.