I thank the Ceann Comhairle for giving me the opportunity to raise this matter on the Adjournment — it was disallowed as a Private Notice Question earlier. I want to ask the Minister for Energy if he will ensure that the $44 million cash consideration in discharge of Chevron's obligation to rebuild the Whiddy oil terminal in Bantry Bay, County Cork, will be spent on industrial investment in the Bantry region; and if he is satisfied that the local workforce employed by the Gulf Oil company are adequately protected following the deal which the Government recently concluded.
It is a great disappointment in the Bantry region that the Government have allowed Chevron, who took over from Gulf, to sail out of Bantry Bay and discharge their liability to the State for a sum of $44 million which in our money is in the region of £36 million to £37 million. When one has regard to the value of the oil in the storage tanks there and which they will take with them, we are talking of a deal that is worth about £30 million net.
On 12 December 1984 the Minister for Energy in a statement to the House said that $60 million would be spent on restoring the Whiddy oil terminal in Bantry Bay. On foot of that statement and of the agreement that had been reached between the Government and Chevron, a number of people in Bantry, the workforce particularly, decided to remain in the area, in some cases getting second mortgages on their houses, and to educate their families there. Business premises in the town were refurbished and prepared generally for the activity that would result from the restoration work.
However, within 12 months the Minister had returned to the House to tell us that he had allowed Chevron to dispose of their liability and that for a sum of $44 million they were being released from their obligation to rebuild the terminal. This news is a tremendous disappointment to the people of west Cork. In Cork generally we were already dazed by the number of closures in the past year or two, but this latest announcement has knocked us out. In this House 12 months ago the Minister gave a commitment that 250 people would be employed on the construction work on Whiddy and that the permanent workforce at the terminal would reach 100.
The details of the package as announced then by the Minister were that approximately $60 million would be spent on restoring the jetty so that it would handle tankers from between 23,000 tons to 275,000 tons. In addition, the terminal was to be upgraded so that oil products as well as crude oil could be handled there and strategic stocks were to be at a minimum of 160,000 barrels. The Minister went on to tell us that any additional oil owned by Gulf at the terminal would be available in an emergency for the State's strategic reserves.
The Minister welcomed the company's guarantees of this agreement but we now have the stunning news that the agreement is to be terminated. That means there will be no construction work and consequently no jobs, either temporary or permanent, at the terminal. Many of the workers concerned had been employed continuously by Gulf, and subsequently by Chevron, for up to 18 years. The average length of time of the workforce there is 16 to 17 years. Is that permanent workforce to be abandoned now and allowed to join the redundancy line just as the remainder of their unfortunate colleagues in Cork city and surrounding areas have had to do?
I should like the Minister to tell us, too, whether the planning application which has been granted by the local authority but which is the subject of an appeal to An Bord Pleanála, will be followed through so as to ensure that final planning is granted for the reconstruction of the terminal. This is important not only for the Bantry area but for the economy generally because there are 12 tanks at Whiddy which are used to store our strategic reserves but that tank farm is useless in the absence of a jetty. One cannot visualise how the oil could be extracted from Whiddy while no jetty is available there.
Last week the Minister told us that currently and for the foreseeable future there is likely to be a ready availability of crude oil storage capacity at more attractive locations in other parts of Europe. Having attractive locations in other parts of Europe is of little use to this country and it is of no use to west Cork. It may be attractive from the Minister's point of view but that is not the case either from my point of view or so far as the people generally are concerned. We should have our own storage facility. With the involvement of the Department of Energy in the Celtic Sea and with the news that Chevron have had some encouraging shows in block 50/6 recently, it is ironic that that parent company should be allowed out of the country.
It is tragic and lamentable that, at a time when it seems as if we are about to make a breakthrough regarding an oil find, one of the major operators who were regarded, at least in the southern part of the country, not alone in terms of providing jobs at the terminal but in terms also of the refinement and processing of oil, should be let off the hook so easily — for a net sum of £30 million, an amount which undoubtedly will be swallowed up in no time in the bottomless pit of the national Exchequer. This is not a great deal of money. It would not shift the decimal point very far in national terms but it is very important in local terms. According to a commitment given by the Minister in his speech to the House last week, the money will be used to promote additional investment in the Bantry region.
Promoting additional investment in that region as well as in every other region and town and village in the country is of little use to the people in west Cork who were looking forward to the implementation of the agreement for the expenditure of $60 million in their area. That money has been grabbed from them. It was earmarked for spending in Bantry and I submit that the money we are getting now from Chevron should be allocated to specific industrial undertakings there. Consequently, I am seeking two commitments from the Minister. I want a commitment for the outstandingly committed and highly skilled workforce who have been working there continuously for 17 to 18 years and I want that money earmarked to be spent on Bantry as it was to be spent in Bantry in the first instance. It could not be used better than for restructuring the terminal. All the experts concede that a functional terminal could be provided for far less than that sum. If the storage capacity there is to be of any value that is the minimum required.
The House was told that the jetty will now be the responsibility of the INPC. When will discussions take place with the INPC and the local workforce in relation to the transfer of the workforce from their present employers to the INPC so that they can continue with the full maintenance of the asset there? The interest on the money for one year could keep the workforce in continuous employment in that region.
I thank the Chair for allowing me to raise this matter on behalf of the people of west Cork, Bantry and throughout the country. This is a tremendously valuable resource being allowed to go out of the country without a commitment to replace it. I want a commitment to the workforce and a commitment that specific projects will be introduced in that area. The people of Bantry feel that this money should have been spent in the area and they deserve it.