A senior inspector from the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) has disclosed that new evidence could prompt a review of its decision "not to advise against" plans for the State's first liquified natural gas terminal on the Shannon estuary near Tarbert, Co Kerry.
The HSA, which advises An Bord Pleanála and local planning authorities "either against or not against" a major project, had assessed the Shannon application and said it had met the criteria.
Its decision was "do not advise against".
But in the light of evidence presented at the hearing on the plans in Tralee over the past two days, and of documents submitted to the HSA on January 11th which it had not had time to assess properly, the advice could be reviewed, Pat Conneely of the HSA told the hearing.
It would take three days to assess this new information and the HSA would write to the board if there was any change of mind, Mr Conneely told the hearing chairman Andrew Boyle.
The authority followed European guidelines on liquified natural gas terminals, to which the applicant had promised to sign up.
Mr Conneely said the HSA had held several lengthy meetings with the applicants, which it would not normally do.
John McElligott, for the Kilcolgan Residents' Association, said there were too many different bodies involved in the application and the project lacked "a holistic view of safety".
The HSA could not give an overall safety assessment as it did not deal with all the safety issues.
Mr Conneely also admitted at the hearing that the new fast-track planning system governing major infrastructure projects was putting the safety authority under pressure.
Mr Conneely was asked by the residents' association if he felt under pressure with the fast-track planning measures.
Under the Strategic Infrastructure Act, 2006, major infrastructure applications go straight to An Bord Pleanála, and not first to the local council. Mr Conneely said the HSA needed two extensions in order to prepare its submission. "So certainly it was challenging," he said. Asked again about the pressure on the HSA due to tight deadlines in the new planning procedure, Mr Conneely did not deny being under pressure but said the organisation was used to dealing with deadlines and was happy to provide the advice to the board on the gas project.