Madam, - Fintan O'Toole (March 22nd) compares the removal of rights of way in Wicklow with the situation regarding a gas pipeline in Mayo. He might also have drawn a comparison with the compulsory acquisition of land for road building, a well-established practice which recognises that, under some circumstances, the needs of the wider community supersede individual rights - with the major difference that after a gas pipeline has been laid, the land is fully reinstated for its previous use.
Mr O'Toole also refers to "an extraordinary deal done by Ray Burke". In fact, encouragement of offshore exploration and production has been the policy of each Government since the early 1970s. Ministers for Energy of all political hues, including Labour, have successively modified the terms for offshore licensing in the face of poor exploration results. The IDA rightly spends many millions attracting inward investment.
Without a cent of public money, our industry has committed over €2 billion to exploration, with the low return of three commercial finds. Exploring offshore Ireland is a high-risk business, with a deep-water well typically costing around €20 million. The independent petroleum consultant WoodMacKenzie regularly assesses many countries in terms of their attractiveness for exploration. It recently identified Ireland as among the least attractive of more than 50 countries under assessment. In 1998, our association had 16 member companies. Now, we are down to seven.
Despite this situation, there are some indications of renewed interest in Irish offshore exploration, driven by improvements in technology, high petroleum prices and effective promotion by the State. It would be unfortunate if comments such as those of Mr O'Toole were to dampen this interest, which has the potential to yield substantial benefits to Ireland in terms of taxes, employment and secure supplies of clean energy. - Yours, etc.,
FERGUS CAHILL, Chairman, Irish Offshore Operators' Association, Dartry, Dublin 6.