The issues raised by the Deputy are two of the eleven recommendations made by the former Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Natural Resources and Agriculture in its report of May 2012 on Offshore Oil and Gas Exploration.
As the Deputy will be aware the debate on the Report of the Joint Oireachtas Committee concluded last week. In the context of the outcome of the debate I propose to reflect on the Report’s recommendations.
In respect of the specific recommendation to establish a stakeholders forum, whilst I have no immediate plans to establish such a forum, both I and my Departmental officials meet with stakeholders and consider their views. In respect of the specific recommendation that my Department should pursue on-going contact with other countries, I should point out that officials from my Department, in the context of international petroleum exploration related fora, regularly meet with senior officials from other European administrations and exchange ideas on best practice on various aspects of petroleum exploration and production.
