The Green Party has called on the Government to outline precise details of the deal it has struck with energy companies on bringing gas ashore from the Corrib field off Co Mayo, writes Lorna Siggins.
The party's marine spokesman, Mr Eamon Ryan, was responding to a report on Channel 4 News last night which made allegations on the involvement of the statutory authorities, including the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, in the project. The report said two of the companies involved with Enterprise Energy Ireland (EEI) in the Corrib field - Marathon Petroleum and Pierce Construction - gave donations to Fianna Fáil.
It also said it had obtained a planner's handwritten memo on Mayo Co Council-headed notepaper, which said there "should be a project steering group to act as a fourm for issues which the Minister wishes to be on". The Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources at the time, Mr Frank Fahey, said on the programme the only contact his Department had had with the council was to ask that his officials be informed of the planning process. He declined to comment on the handwritten memo which he said he had no information on.
Earlier, EEI expressed "serious concerns" about the accuracy of the Channel 4 News report. Mr Andy Pyle, EEI's managing director, said there were "clear factual errors and unfounded allegations" in the press report. "It is claimed that the only environmental impact assessment of the project was carried out by Shell. This is grossly untrue...it was carried out by an international firm of consultants in accordance with Irish and European law." A spokesman for ITN News said the newspaper report was drawn from a briefing document, and the actual edited report had moved on "considerably from that content". He denied it had been edited in response to EEI's complaints.