Madam, – Leo Varadkar is misleading or misled. He is quoted as saying (Home News, March 2nd): “The State stands to gain at least 25 per cent of profits from Corrib and the sooner the gas is brought ashore, the sooner that money can be used to fund essential services”.
This statement is contradicted by Brian O'Cathain, former chief executive of Enterprise Energy Ireland which discovered the gas field in 1996. At a public debate (which was taped) last December 4th after a screening of The Pipeat the Irish Film Institute in Dublin, Mr O Cathain said: "The problem with Corrib is that, because of the very long delay – the original budget for the project was $650 million, I think it was. Now Shell and their partners have spent over $2 billion. What that means is that the project will never go into profit. The impact of that is that Corrib will never pay tax." So. Another tax write-off for the rich. More rhetorical flourishes.
If Mr Varadkar is to be named as Minister for Energy, a vow of listening could start things off better. – Yours, etc,