Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The Programme for Government - Our Shared Future - contains a commitment to end the issuing of new licences for the exploration and extraction of gas on the same basis as the decision taken in September 2019 by the previous Government in relation to oil exploration and extraction. I have made this commitment effective immediately: my Department is no longer accepting new applications for exploration licences for natural gas or oil, nor will there be any future licensing rounds in Closed areas.

The five existing applications referenced were made before September 2019, and so are considered against the criteria outlined in section 3 of the Licensing Terms for Offshore Oil and Gas Exploration, Development and Production 2007. In particular, applicants must include a proposed work programme for the authorisation and demonstrate that they have both the financial and technical capability to deliver it. It should be noted that an application may be made by a joint venture comprising a number of parties. In that regard the consideration of applications is a complex process which, as in the case of some current applications, can take some time to bring to conclusion.