asked the Minister for Energy the measures the Government is taking to ensure that information supplied to it by commercial companies involved in oil exploration in Irish territorial waters is accurate.

In accordance with specific provisions of all offshore petroleum exploration or prospecting licences issued by my Department, the holders are required to furnish all information arising from their exploration activities. The information which must be supplied includes geological, geophysical and geochemical data, details of all drilling operations and of their results, and the submission of drill cores, well logs, and all interpretative material and conclusions drawn by licensees from their operations. During the drilling of a well, information in respect of the drilling operations is furnished on a daily basis by the operator concerned and, at critical stages of a well, including the testing operations, a representative of the Department is present on board the drilling vessel.

The accuracy of the information is verified by fully competent technical personnel in my Department supported, where it is deemed necessary, by outside consultants. These consultants, whose status is internationally recognised, are engaged to carry out on behalf of the Department, independent evaluation of data supplied.

I can assure the Deputy that all information relating to offshore exploration which is supplied by the oil companies is subject to the most careful scrutiny to ensure its accuracy.

Did I hear the Minister say that a representative of the Department is present on the oil rig to assess day to day progress?

Yes. I said that at critical stages of a well, including the testing operations, a representative of the Department is present on board the drilling vessel.

Has the senior official of the Minister's Department who was engaged in the evaluation of this kind of information and who last year was appointed to an academic post in UCD and left the Department been replaced by somebody of equal experiences and seniority?

In the research team and technical staff available to me in my Department I have a fully competent staff including, one senior petroleum adviser who is a petroleum geologist on a consultancy basis. We have one principal geologist who is on secondment from the NBST. We have two geophysicists, one full-time and one on a consultancy basis, one petroleum geologist and one consultant engineer. I feel, having worked very closely over the last few months with those people, that we have a very competent staff in that petroleum division, that they have fully appraised themselves and are able to meet any situation which arises in relation to our exploration programme.

I do not doubt their competence but I asked the Minister a specific question: if the official who left last year for UCD has been replaced?

I do not have the information available to me as to the actual timing and dates of the appointment of people in my Department. I have given the Deputy the information in relation to the numbers. I feel, in relation to the actual question asked, that the information I am making available is that we have the staff in sufficient numbers and competence to deal with our needs.

Are the Geological Survey office engaged in this evaluation or is it all been done by departmental officials?

The evaluation is done by departmental officials.

This question relates to a very important matter and concerns fully accurate information being available to the Government, because it is on the basis of this that negotiations will take place. Could the Minister indicate, in relation to the number of staff consultants and experts available to him, how that compares with the staff available five or six years ago? Has it increased or reduced?

From the information available to me, as I said to Deputy O'Malley, I do not have the actual dates and number of staff available at any particular time but I can get that information for the Deputy if he requires it.

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