Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 17 October 2012
322. Deputy Michael Colreavy asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport in the event of an oil spill at the Dalkey oil site, the contingency plan in place to prevent the oil spill reaching Dublin’s coastline; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43736/12]
View answerThe oil exploration site off Dalkey is the subject of an exploration licence awarded by the Minister for Communications Energy and Natural Resources. The exploration company is required to comply with all the Rules and Procedures of the Petroleum Affairs Division of that Department prior to commencing operations at the site.
Also part of the conditions on the development of the site is the requirement to have in place an Oil Spill Contingency Plan approved by the Irish Coast Guard of my Department.
A thorough evaluation of the Contingency Plan will be undertaken prior to approval.
This requirement is outlined in Section 2.2 of the Sea Pollution Amendment Act 1999 and addresses issues such as the responsibilities of personnel reporting arrangements including on site operational control, time criteria for cessation of production and shut off of pressure, risk assessment and prediction of various pollution causes, consequences and areas under threat, taking into account the maximum volume of pollutant that could be released and the composition and properties of the pollutant, response to worst case and most credible likely emergency, clean-up facilities for first strike response and back up equipment, disposal of recovered oil, training of personnel, surveillance of and reporting on oil slick extent and movement, contact lists and site data.
