THE EUROPEAN Parliament’s petitions committee has sought further information from the European Commission on the Corrib gas project. A delegation from the committee may travel to north Mayo on a fact-finding mission.
The developments have been welcomed by Dr Mark Garavan, former spokesman for the Rossport Five, who lodged a complaint about aspects of State approvals for the controversial project.
He said he had received confirmation of the “further information” request yesterday from the petition committee’s chair, Marcin Libicki.
“I warmly welcome this development, which demonstrates that the issues raised in my petition remain open and of concern. These concerns were demonstrably not adequately addressed by the commission in their initial reply to the petition on May 26th last,” Dr Garavan said.
He was confident the committee would send a delegation “as soon as possible” .
Dr Garavan’s petition is one of several complaints lodged with the EU about the project.
He contends that it breaches several EU directives on habitat protection, environmental impact assessment, drinking water protection and public consultation.
“Despite the careful public relations presentation, serious legal doubts remain,” he has said.
A formal request to the European Commission seeking an injunction suspending State consents for the Corrib gas project has also been submitted by a group of north Mayo residents.