9 DFómh 2012, 12:24
The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications will tomorrow hear from leading policymakers, experts and a campaigning group on the possible environmental implications of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, as a means of gas exploration in Ireland.
9 October 2012
The Committee will engage separately with:
- Senior officials from the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources;
- The Director General of the Environmental Protection Agency, which has recently published a report on the matter, and
- The Good Energies Alliance Ireland, an independent organisation campaigning against shale gas extraction using fracking.
Chairman of the Committee Tom Hayes TD says: “There is no doubt that fracking is a controversial, emotive and divisive issue. It is consequently a topic which our Committee is devoting careful consideration towards. The debate is particularly charged in the northwest of the country, where areas of Leitrim and Fermanagh are being assessed for their suitability for fracking. EU Commissioner for Energy Günther Oettinger, at a Committee meeting last month, reminded us that there is little European experience of this process so far and suggested that Ireland should adopt a ‘wait and see’ approach.
“We will engage with senior officials from the Department responsible for any future licensing of onshore exploration. We will then have an opportunity to question EPA Director General Laura Burke on her agency’s recent report which summarises the current and potential environmental impacts of fracking. We will also hear from representatives from Good Energies Ireland, who are seeking a ban on hydraulic fracturing unless independent scientific studies verify that it can be undertaken sustainably and will result in no environmental, social or economic harm.
“Our meeting tomorrow will allow various strands of the debate to address this issue and enable Committee Members gain a greater understanding of the issues involved practice of fracking.”
The meeting takes place tomorrow Wednesday 10 October in Committee Room 4, LH 2000 at 9:30 a.m. Committee proceedings can be viewed online via this link.
ENDS
For further information please contact:
Paul Hand,
Houses of the Oireachtas,
Communications Unit,
Leinster House,
Dublin 2
P: +353 1 618 4484
M: +353 87 694 9926
Committee Membership
Deputies
Timmy Dooley, Fianna Fáil
Dessie Ellis, Sinn Féin
Martin Ferris, Sinn Féin
Terence Flanagan, Fine Gael
Tom Fleming, Independent
Noel Harrington, Fine Gael
Tom Hayes, Fine Gael (Chairman)
Colm Keaveney, Labour
Seán Kenny, Labour
Mattie McGrath, Independent
Éamon Ó Cuív, Fianna Fáil
Patrick O’Donovan, Fine Gael
John O’Mahony, Fine Gael (Vice-Chairman)
Ann Phelan, Labour
Brian Walsh, Fine Gael
Senators
Terry Brennan
Sean D. Barrett
Eamonn Coghlan
Paschal Mooney
Ned O’Sullivan
John Whelan