asked the Minister for Energy the plans the Government have for the establishment of an oil refinery to reduce our present dependence on the Milford Haven refinery, in view of the establishment of a National Petroleum Company and the likelihood of one or more Irish commercial finds.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Oil Refinery.
41.
The Government have no specific plans at present for the establishment of an additional oil refinery.
In the long term it would clearly be in our best interests to be able to meet our product needs, to the extent that this can be done competitively, by having adequate refining capacity. But, apart from cost and the existence of excess refining capacity in EEC countries, there are many related problems which need to be examined in detail before a decision to proceed with the construction of a refinery could be taken.