RE: RTE16 Feb 2018 09:18
"For decades we dreamed of finding oil or gas in Irish waters, now the D�il has voted to ban anyone looking for it." Robert Shortt reports.
That sentence is extremely misleading - they have voted to put a bill through to the next stage - but Mr. Shortt (who probably has a short running) makes it sound as though it's all cut and dry. Take a look at further debate from 14th Feb below ....... Does it really sound as though the bill will be written into Law? - It will be totally diluted, and the outcome will be that all current licences will remain, and may be extended, however there will be no new areas open to exploration. I'm sure that will satisfy the majority.
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Deputy Brid Smith - "Will the Minister respect the vote of the D�il, which gave a clear indication to him last week, and desist from issuing any further licences?"
Minister of State at the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (Deputy Se�n Kyne) - "The Bill referenced by the Deputy has been referred to select committee for consideration. As such, it remains a legislative proposal. Government policies in respect of climate action, energy and offshore exploration, and the application of such policies, remain unchanged."
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In contrast, the Bill proposed by Solidarity will not reduce Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions and will not help Ireland meet its 2020 or 2030 emissions targets. The strategy outlined by Solidarity during last week�s Second Stage debate is for Ireland to rely entirely on imports for all our future fossil fuel needs.
As well as failing to actually reduce Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions, the proposed Bill would have an adverse impact on Ireland�s Exchequer resources through the loss of exploration acreage rental fee revenues and the potential loss of taxation revenue under the Finance Acts from any future commercial discoveries. In the face of such a loss to the Exchequer, it is my view that it would not be appropriate for a Government to issue a money message for this Bill.
The Solidarity approach fails to recognise, in contrast to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, that natural gas can play a role as a transition fuel in combination with variable renewable sources. The Government and the public are willing to tackle climate change but the Solidarity Bill will not solve climate change. As I said last week, the energy White Paper clearly states that natural gas will play a huge part in our energy security into the future.
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