asked the Minister for Energy if he will give details of the deal, reported to be at an advanced stage, for bringing Whiddy Island, County Cork, back into use and linking it up with an upgraded Whitegate Refinery.

34.

andMr. Sheehan asked the Minister for Energy if there is a specific proposal under consideration for the reopening of the Whiddy Island oil terminal, County Cork; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

39.

asked the Minister for Energy if it is intended to modernise the Whitegate Oil Refinery in County Cork; if the Government are considering a proposal to recommission Whiddy Island as an oil storage facility; if he will give details of any such proposals; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

It is proposed to take replies to Questions Nos. 14, 34 and 39 together.

Certain approaches have been made by commercial interests about possible developments in relation to Whitegate and Whiddy but I cannot say whether these will result in any meaningful proposals.

Has the Minister carried out any analysis of the proposals within his own Department? Are these proposals consistent with the plans that are in hand for fishing projects in the Whiddy tanks?

At this stage it is a question of approaches rather than proposals. When proposals come forward, all aspects will be looked into. At the moment there are talks going on but no firm proposals.

While I would want to encourage the Minister to continue the efforts we made and to build on what we establish while in office on the re-opening of the terminal at Whiddy, would the Minister accept that the announcement of incomplete discussions by local Fianna Fáil politicians could rightly be regarded purely as a smokescreen for Government action in axing the funding for the Bantry package, as an effort by them to save their own skins from the rightful wrath of the west Cork electorate?

The Deputy will be aware that this story first appeared in The Irish Times. Local politicians cannot be held responsible for that.

I am not so sure.

When I took office there was absolutely nothing on the desk in relation to the future of Whiddy other than the fish project——

Which I funded in the package.

——about which the former Minister for Finance has a question further on in the Order Paper as to why it was sanctioned in the first place, he having sanctioned it himself in February last. The question of trying to find a use for this tremendous facility at Whiddy and further develop the potential of Whitegate is something that we are following very actively.

Besides my encouragement to the Minister to continue the efforts made by the last Administration, would the Minister not accept that, in the light of what the Minister has to say, it is entirely inappropriate for a local Fianna Fáil politician, a member of the Oireachtas, to comment that he has information about this deal which apparently now does not exist at all?

The comment made in The Irish Times report that he would be well aware of the intense approaches and the amount of work that is going on to find a proper use for the Whiddy terminal and the extension of Whitegate is a matter on which all the Fianna Fáil representatives in that area have been pressing the members of this Government and particularly me as Minister responsible, and in the light of that continuous pressure this response by the Deputy concerned was made.

I am sure the Minister will agree that Whiddy and Whitegate are of more than local importance and that they are of major strategic national interest. We understand that the negotiations have been underway for at least six or seven months. Could the Minister give some indication of when he would expect negotiations to reach some stage of conclusion, indicating either that it is feasible or might not be going ahead. Is it likely to go on throughout the year or does the Minister regard it of some urgency to bring it to a conclusion?

I can assure the Deputy that it is a matter of great urgency and is receiving careful attention on a daily basis. The Government are very anxious to bring the matter to a conclusion as soon as possible because the future of Whiddy and Whitegate are vital in a national and not just in a local sense.

A number of Deputies are offering. I want to bring in Deputy Jim O'Keeffe and Deputy Sheehan who tabled a question in regard to this matter, and perhaps a final supplementary question from Deputy Richard Bruton. Then we shall go on to the next question.

Would the Minister be very open and frank with the House? Is there any realistic possibility that the discussions which he has said are going on now — as opposed to the kind of discussion that occurred during our time in office — will be brought to a head and will bear results within the foreseeable future? I should like a straight steer from the Minister on that. As a friend of his, I would like to encourage him to do everything possible towards bringing them to a fruitful conclusion.

I welcome the encouragement from the Deputy. For that reason, the Deputy will understand that in commercial negotiations of this sort it would be premature and could be damaging if I were to put on the table of the House today exactly the state of the negotiations. They are ongoing and I can assure the Deputy that I am taking a very sincere and detailed interest in the matter, with the intention of achieving a deal which will be to the benefit of the people of this country. If it is not to their benefit, and to that of the people of west Cork and Cork generally, then there will not be a deal. The Deputy can rest assured that the House will be kept informed at all times as soon as any decision is arrived at.

But the Minister is hopeful?

I am a very hopeful person.

In view of the Minister's statement just now that he is exploring all the possibilities of creating industry on Whiddy Island, surely he could tell us if any concrete steps have been taken about getting such industry off the ground? Has he any firm commitment with any international consortium in this regard, or what does he think about a reputable national daily which carried an announcement a few weeks ago about the Government playing a game of bluff? Are his Department playing a game of bluff, are they trying to lessen the impact of the sabotage of the £7½ million Whiddy rescue package? Is he trying to silence the people of south-west Cork? The people of Bantry and west Cork are bewildered at the action of the Minister in sabotaging this £7½ million rescue package.

I have allowed the Deputy to elicit information. He is embarking on a speech.

We have had no form of concrete proposal to encourage industry back to Whiddy Island in Bantry Bay.

Deputy Sheehan, that must be enough.

As far as the question of bluff is concerned, I bow to the Deputy's far greater knowledge of the subject than my own. As far as negotiations are concerned, the Deputy can be assured that I am following the negotiations very actively on behalf of the State on these two very important resources that we have, Whiddy and Whitegate.

Arising out of the Minister's many comments, is it not somewhat inconsistent of him to be saying that this is being dealt with on a day-to-day basis and also saying that it is only at a proposal stage and that he has conducted no analysis on it? Could he therefore assure the Dáil that before he agrees to any such project he will, at least, give us in the Dáil an opportunity to see the terms that are involved? As Deputy Mac Giolla indicated, there are very important strategic issues at stake here and could be perhaps give the Dáil that assurance?

The recognition of the strategic importance of Whitegate is not something that needs to be brought home to this Government and to this party. It is something that we recognise and we have been absolutely hammered by the other side on our approach to the strategic importance of Whitegate. We also recognise the very important resource which is there at Whiddy. I can assure the Deputy that when the Government, first, receive final firm proposals and then make a decision on these, if and when that arises, the House will be informed.