Opponents of the planned Corrib gas project today dismissed the recommendations outlined in a Government sponsored report and accused Minister for Communications Noel Dempsey of siding with Shell Ireland.
Two reports were made public this afternoon, one prepared for the Government by UK-based Advantica Consultants and another prepared by the Corrib Technical Advisory Group (TAG), a body set up by the Mr Dempsey to assist and advise him in the appointment of experts to undertake the safety review.
Shell Ireland can now build its proposed nine kilometre pipeline in Co Mayo providing it meets conditions outlined in the reports.
Dr Mark Garavan, spokesman for the Shell To Sea group, said the reports had "not changed anything."
"We are still left with a production pipeline traversing a village and within 70 metres of some homes. Nothing has changed," he said.
"The Advantica report amounts to a post-hoc justification of a flawed project despite many of the findings which confirm either the absence or the failure of the regulatory regime governing the Corrib Gas project to date.
"There is now a failure of courage by the Minister to follow the logic of these flaws and order a comprehensive re-configuration of the project," he added.
Dr Garavan said the process which produced the Advantica report was defective resulting in a pre-determined outcome that the pipeline was "fit for use."
"For example, Advantica could not enquire into the development concept used by Shell, could not enquire into development alternatives, could not make comparative safety findings, and did not comprehensively model the consequences of failure of the production pipeline."
He said Shell had made no alteration to its project on foot of local concerns. "Today, the Minister has once again sided with Shell against the vulnerable communities of North Mayo," he added.
Meanwhile, Shell Ireland welcomed the publication of the reports describing them as "thorough and detailed."
Managing Director Andy Pyle said he hoped they would help to address the concerns of the people in the local community.
"This report thoroughly and comprehensively addresses the substantive issue of safety. There are significant findings and recommendations contained in the report that the Corrib Gas partners need to study over the coming days before issuing our full response," he said.