asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce the information available at present in his Department regarding borings for oil and gas off the coast at Kinsale, County Cork.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Kinsale Coast Borings.
21.
The Deputy will recall that in reply to a previous question I stated that Marathon Petroleum Co. (Ireland) Ltd. reported to me in November, 1971, that exploratory drilling in an area off the coast of Kinsale, County Cork, which is the subject of a petroleum lease granted to the company, had revealed apparently significant results but that further testing and further drillings were necessary before it could be established that the field is sufficiently extensive for commercial exploitation. The company made a public statement to the same effect. Further drilling was abandoned during the winter months. It was resumed in February, 1972. Under the terms of the lease held by the company carrying out the drilling, information furnished to me in relation to its operations is confidential.
Is there a danger that even if the find is verified there it could be sealed up for a number of years and not operated? Would the Minister see that it is operated?
If there is anything like a sufficient find discovered it is very unlikely that there would be any question of it being sealed up or sealed off.
But is one of the first borings there not sealed off already?
There was certainly one boring, if not two, away back, where the discovery was insufficient to justify taking any action. That was sealed up and technically abandoned because what they discovered was not sufficient to interest them.
Has the Minister all the information available about it now?
Yes. Each month a progress report must come to my Department.
Why does the Minister have to deal with it on a confidential basis? Surely the necessity for confidence does not arise?
It does, very much.
In what way? The gas cannot be moved to some other area.
Can the Minister state when the requirements of this confidence clause will be removed? At what stage will the Minister be able to give the information?
In the normal course, anybody who is conducting any type of business must expect that his business is confidential.
I accept that. I have asked the Minister to state when will the information become available. Surely it will not be confidential for ever. These things have to be exploited at some stage.
Seven years.
Since this is an offshore operation, is the Minister satisfied that the methods of scrutiny available to his Department are such that he is able to verify that the reports given by the company to him are accurate?
The survey section of my Department have the capacity to assess to a reasonable extent the accuracy of the reports made to them and they do that.
Is there a scrutiny of what Marathon are doing on that offshore site or not?
An actual physical scrutiny by reason of somebody being present from my Department?
Or even an occasional verification that the reports the Minister is getting bear some relationship to the reality of what they are discovering.
I am satisfied with the reliability of the reports which the survey section of my Department get in this regard.
Question No. 22.
That is very nice but has anybody else any reason to be satisfied?
I dare say the Deputy would not be satisfied anyway.
A little evidence on which one could judge whether they are accurate or not would be useful. The Minister is notoriously obscurantist about this.