Will the Taoiseach use An Bord Pleanála's refusal, on health, safety and environmental grounds, of planning permission for the proposed natural gas facility in Mayo as an opportunity to change the extraordinary terms agreed by the former Minister, Deputy Burke, with the oil companies in 1987, and further changed when the Taoiseach was Minister for Finance in 1992? Under these terms the Irish people were to buy back their own natural resource from a major multinational company without a penny in royalties, with all costs to the company going back decades being written off against taxes and with no independent assessment by this State of the extent of the deposits independent of the companies which stand to gain massively from their exploitation. It is crucial that there is now new thinking as to how this natural resource is used for the benefit of all our people. The Minister of State, Deputy Fahey, would be better off trying to bring creative thinking to bear on this situation rather than acting as an unofficial PR man for Royal Dutch Shell. Will the Taoiseach look to the past, where the development of crucial natural and national resources – electricity generation, peat harvesting and sugar production – were thrust forward by dedicated State companies? Is it not clear that we now need a State exploration recovery agency for natural gas particularly to benefit our people so that funding can go to the health service and other badly needed areas and not bloat further multinational corporations?

An ndéanfaidh an Taoiseach an rud ceart anois do mhuintir Iorrais, do mhuintir Mhuigheo agus do mhuintir na tíre uilig? An dtosnóidh sé arís ar an ngás nádúrtha a thabhairt i dtír ar bhonn atá buntáisteach do mhuintir uilig na tíre seachas é a dhéanamh ar mhaithe le proifídí thar cinn a sholáthar do na comhluchtaí móra ilnáisiúnta, mar atá i gceist anseo?

Go raibh maith agat—

There are two aspects to the Deputy's question. I remind Deputy Higgins that at the time the tax incentives and the various initiatives were introduced in the late 1980s or the early 1990s, there was no exploration whatsoever going on in this area. With regard to the one in which I was involved with the then Minister for Energy, Deputy Molloy, there was almost no activity in any of the Irish natural resources. Unfortunately, within our own corporate sector there is neither the resources nor the willingness on the part of people to undertake the level of expenditure that would be required. It is not that they have no interest but the required level of expenditure in the testing and various exploration programmes simply does not exist. I recall examining the various submissions at the time and the fact that the expenditure was not available. It is idealistic and Nationalistic to say it is a pity that these projects are not picked up by Irish people but that is not often possible. That is a question which relates also to this particular company in the Corrib field where somebody can come in, put in a vast amount of resources – somewhere of the order of €150 million – employ a lot of people and then nothing happens, which affects other initiatives.

On the second part of the Deputy's question, I fully respect the decision of An Bord Pleanála, as I always do. It is to be hoped that the ruling does not end efforts to tap into the vein of energy off our coast because there are the knock-on issues of jobs and investment in infrastructure which has the potential to deliver. An Bord Pleanála's decision in relation to post-construction of the terminal at Bellanaboy for the development of the Corrib gas field has implications for the process of that development. That has to be examined now to determine if that project and the related developments are to be dropped. The company now has to decide whether it will apply for new planning permission to see what progress it can make and if anything else will happen. It defers also the future of gas supplies to the towns and the communities in the north-west which are hoping to get this opportunity. Substantial additional costs have been incurred by the developer as a consequence of the delay in the planning process which have been borne up-front in terms of the development of the Mayo-Galway export pipe line. Those costs are unlikely to be recovered by way of full projects but the company has to make an assessment to determine where it goes now but the Deputy will appreciate that there are no other companies waiting around to pick up this project. Unfortunately, that is not the way exploration works. There are no Irish companies willing to put in several hundred million euro on exploration, with all the risks involved. I wish that was the position, but it is not.

In the early 1990s, the oil and gas companies knew the potential which existed off our shores. Does the Taoiseach not accept that it was a massive problem that this State had no independent assessment of those resources and put itself completely in the lap of the multinational corporations? One of the Taoiseach's handlers told a newspaper this weekend that the Taoiseach would be keeping more aloof and would be more presidential in this new Dáil term. For myself, one President in this State is more than enough but speaking of staying aloof, Fianna Fáil did not stay aloof from these companies which were its regular guests in its tent at the Galway races. Politically, the Taoiseach's party has been very close to these corporations and there are inexplicable questions as to why they were given these terms. Rather than being presidential, the Taoiseach should answer questions in a straight manner for the next eight weeks. That would be a real contribution to the Irish people.

I asked the Taoiseach about the possible role for the State in the development of these natural resources. Is the Taoiseach aware that there are many Irish workers who have returned here from abroad with a lot of expertise in exploration, and others still working abroad who would like to come home if their energies and expertise were harnessed by the State?

Does the Taoiseach accept the principle that our country's wealth should be for the benefit of all the people, not faceless shareholders in glass towers in New York, Tokyo, London or elsewhere? If the Government was guided by that principle, we would strike out and create new methods, including bringing the State to bear on the development and recovery of these resources as happened with crucial national industries of the past.

I wish I did not have to say this but a number of the Irish companies and their shareholders which tried to get involved in our natural resources got fairly well burned. There are many examples of those companies. Many others which are still in the business of our natural resources have had to vastly supplement their losses with profits from other businesses in which they are involved to try to keep them afloat. That is the reality. Unfortunately, there are no companies in this area within the Irish system. There may be some individual staff who come home and take up employment but they are not coming home with the investments to take up projects like the Corrib gas project or any of the others. I am sure the Deputy knows that in most of these projects, the investment necessary to do the exploration, the drilling and testing over many summers involves enormous sums of money. The risk for companies doing this and the amount of testing they have to do are enormous. There is no potential within the Irish system for people to invest several million euro in such projects. The tax benefits there, as good as they are, have not stimulated much activity for Irish people or others. Only a few people are interested in the Irish market. That is the way it goes and I must respect the decision of An Bord Pleanála. Unfortunately, however, there will be fewer investors after a decision like last week's because there are other places to go.

Set up a State company.

Imagine if I was in here explaining that hundreds of millions in taxpayers' money – particularly today when we have been talking about health – was gone because some drill hole off the north west or in the porcupine had failed. I know the Deputy does not even believe that. That is the reality of what the alternative is.

What do I not believe?

That we could do that. Not even in the worst days of eastern Europe did they try to put money into those kinds of—

I am not a member of Fianna Fáil. That means—

Those countries did not and I accept what the Deputy said.

That concludes Leaders' Questions. We now move to Questions to the Taoiseach.