Minister Rabbitte should use the precautionary principle in assessing the economic and environmental effects of shale gas development.

Green Party spokesperson on Energy, Communications and Natural Resources, Garreth McDaid, said today:  ”Minister Pat Rabbitte needs to be guided by the “Precautionary Principle” in assessing both the economic and environmental aspects of shale gas extraction in Ireland.”

“Tambaron Resources is making all sorts of claims about finding a €7 billion gas resource in County Leitrim and about the jobs they hope to create but these should be taken with a massive dose of salt.  The reality is that exploration companies often pump up their development prospects so they can raise more money on the stock market and get favourable treatment from the licensing authority.”

“Instead of been taken in by the company public relations we need to ask why would we go down the route of relying on a risky and polluting industry when we have other cleaner and more sustainable energy supplies available to us?  What are we doing planning to crack the Earth when we could be more easily catching the wind and other renewable power supplies?”

“Extraction industry representatives have repeatedly claimed that shale gas is a ‘game changing’ energy source for Europe, that will reduce our dependence on imported fuels.  Predictions of this nature are derived largely from comparisons with the US Gas Industry, which operates in an entirely different environment, and where there is much greater certainty in relation to recoverable reserves. This is borne out by market reaction to shale gas prospects in Europe, which has remained muted despite increasing energy prices.”

“Hydraulic fracking is an extremely energy intensive extraction process which will release massive amounts of greenhouse gases making it fundamentally unsustainable.  The process also involves the transportation of enormous quantities of water, both to and from fracking sites, which considerably undermines the value of shale gas as an energy source.”

“In addition to these economic considerations, it is also clear that hydraulic fracking has the potential to be extremely divisive in the localities where extraction may occur, which will have a far more damaging social impact that any short term benefit that may accrue from the construction of exploration wells.”

“These areas, which have traditionally suffered from population decline, will suffer further in terms of their desirability for inward migration, leaving existing residents with limited prospects of employment once the fracking roadshow has moved on.”