Enterprise Energy Ireland (EEI) and partners are expected to submit the development plan for the Corrib gas field off Mayo this week. Marking what has been billed as a "milestone in Irish exploration history", it also represents a key stage in the largest infrastructural project in the west.
The words are those of the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources, Mr Fahey, who awarded a petroleum lease to the consortium late last week. It is the first new production lease in 30 years, as it is the only one to be issued under his Department's 1975 and 1992 licensing terms.
However, even as the lease was being prepared for signature, it came under attack from SIPTU. The trade union leader, Mr Des Geraghty, said the Government should never have given the kind of concessions it gave EEI and partners for the Corrib field.
"I think there should always be a take for the State," Mr Geraghty said before the lease announcement. "I think that the gas is extremely important as an inidigenous energy source for economic development, but I believe that from the start the concessions that were given were unbelievable.
"There were no jobs in it. There was very little for the Irish economy and we are now suffering the consequences of a very bad policy, which former minister, Ray Burke, has to answer for," Mr Geraghty added. "I think it goes back a long time, but at this time I think the people of the west are right to demand that we maximise the benefit of that resource for this region."
Mr Geraghty was in Galway to unveil a statue by sculptor John Behan, entitled Equality Emerging. The statue was presented by the SIPTU leader and Prof Iognβid ╙ Muircheartaigh, president of NUI Galway, to the mayor, Mr Donal Lyons, last week to celebrate what has been achieved to date in the struggle for equality.
The sculpture was the brainchild of Mr Eddie Higgins and Ms Nuala Keher, of the SIPTU-NUI, Galway Alliance. The seven-year alliance designs and delivers accredited training courses to working people through "e-learning" and open distance courses.
The SIPTU president warned employers not to use the events of September 11th to institute unwarranted cutbacks. Mr Geraghty appealed to IBEC, the employers' confederation, to discourage its members from taking advantage of an uncertain economic situation. "If you do that, you take apart what we have built up over 14 years. I think we are going to have to get through this together, and I think it is important that we look at every aspect of the domestic economy - where we can strengthen it - knowing that we will have difficulties for the next year to 18 months."
Training and education were vital components of that effort, as reflected in the SIPTU-NUI, Galway Alliance, he added. Mr Geraghty said the Government should be placing more emphasis on indigenous resources to mimimise the impact of the current downturn in the high technology sector. Mr Geraghty's colleague, SIPTU offshore oil and gas representative, Mr Pβdraig Campbell, described last week's lease approval for the Corrib field as "rubber-stamping the continued rip-off of our natural resources".
EEI and partners Statoil Exploration (Ireland) Ltd and Marathon International Petroleum (Hibernia) Ltd still have a number of stages to go through before gas can be brought ashore, but the lease awarded by the Minister effectively signs over the mineral resource to them.
The plan of development for the Corrib field must be accompanied by an environmental impact statement (EIS), and other authorisations include a foreshore licence The EIS will cover all elements of the project from the wells to the onshore terminal, and the lessees are required to issue a public notice relating to all applications. That public notice is expected to be issued this week, along with the development plan.
Comments and observations on the EIS must be made within a calendar month. The Department of the Marine and Natural Resources said the Minister will forward submissions or observations to the lessees, upon receipt, and request a response. They will also be referred by him to the Marine Licence Vetting Committee (MLVC), described as an independent expert group. The Minister has also requested that the MLVC host a public meeting in Mayo during this one-month consultation period. Mr Fahey will publish the MLVC report - in line with a commitment given at his Department's seminar in Geesala, Co Mayo, last July.
