Written Answers to Questions - Northern Ireland Assembly

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Friday 20 July 2012 Written Answers Mrs Foster: DETI does not hold the information requested. However Mutual Energy has confirmed that the Moyle Interconnector was completely inoperable for a total of 147 days during the period between 1 July 2011 and 30 June 2012 Money Paid to Mutual Energy from Customers Mr Copeland asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to detail the amount of money paid to Mutual Energy from consumers in the last twelve months. (AQW 13557/11-15) Mrs Foster: Mutual Energy is a private company and, as such, the information requested is not held by DETI. Tourist Potential of Disused Railway Tracks Mrs Overend asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment for her assessment of the tourism potential of the network of disused railway tracks; and whether her Department provides assistance to those who wish to turn these railway tracks into cycle paths. (AQW 13601/11-15) Mrs Foster: The network of disused railway tracks in Northern Ireland are owned either by The Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company (a public corporation within the Department for Regional Development), the relevant local authority (or authorities) within which the railway tracks lie or private landowners. My Department, through the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, provides assistance through the Tourism Development Scheme (TDS) which aims to assist with capital developments in the tourism industry. Creationism Film at the Giant’s Causeway Visitor Centre Mr Lunn asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment whether her Department was consulted on the inclusion of a creationism film at the Giant’s Causeway visitor centre; and if so, to outline its response. (AQW 13634/11-15) Mrs Foster: During the initial stages of the project, the National Trust undertook a series of consultations with a wide group of stakeholders which included The Northern Ireland Tourist Board in order to help inform the interpretative solution. Inclusion of a Creationism Film at the Giant’s Causeway Visitor Centre Mr Lunn asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to list the groups that lobbied her Department for the inclusion of a creationism film at the Giant’s Causeway visitor centre. (AQW 13635/11-15) Mrs Foster: A range of individuals and groups wrote to me expressing an interest in the interpretative content of the Giant’s Causeway Visitor Experience. Licence Permitting Exploration Mrs Overend asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (i) what a licence permitting exploration, for the potential to extract shale gas by hydraulic fracturing, entitles the licence holder to do; (ii) what restrictions or oversights are attached; and (iii) how this is then reflected in a licence to extract shale gas by hydraulic fracturing. (AQW 13692/11-15) Mrs Foster: A Petroleum Licence gives a company exclusive rights to search and bore for and get petroleum within a specific area. This allows the Licensee to carry out non-intrusive work such as geological mapping. With additional consents from DETI and HSENI, the Licensee may also undertake limited intrusive work, such as geophysical survey and vertical drilling for rock samples. The Licence WA 496
Friday 20 July 2012 Written Answers also provides for drilling an exploration well and associated construction and engineering works, including hydraulic fracturing, but these are subject to Planning Permission and other consents from DETI, HSENI and others. Applications to undertake construction works, exploration drilling and hydraulic fracturing would be subject to the full rigour of the Planning system including an Environmental Impact Assessment. Drilling a borehole is subject to the Borehole Sites and Operations Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1995: under these Regulations companies must notify HSENI 21 days in advance of the commencement of operations and comply with drilling specific and general health and safety regulations. As a statutory consultee in the planning process HSENI has the opportunity to make recommendations on the proposed drilling operations, including compliance with internationally accepted standards. Many elements of the proposed drilling operations would be subject to environmental and other legislation, and monitoring programmes may be included under these regulatory regimes. DETI can include specific conditions (e.g. specifications for well design and construction) as part of its well consent. DETI has the powers to inspect the drilling operations and recover the costs from the Licensee. During the exploration phase DETI will only issue Consent to Drill approval if the Licensee has demonstrated that it has already obtained all the other statutory permissions that it requires to carry out its operations, and it has satisfied the Department that its proposed operations are technically acceptable and will not have a significant adverse impact on the environment. If exploration drilling is successful and a company wishes to develop the shale gas resources in its licence area it would need to submit a development programme for approval by DETI. This development programme would also require a Planning Application and accompanying Environmental Impact Statement. The planning process would involve consideration of a range of issues associated with the proposed development, including ecology, water resources and quality, air quality, the potential economic benefits, the potential for impacts on other industries, and the effects on the community. Projected Impact on Tourism from Extracting Shale Gas by Hydraulic Fracturing Mrs Overend asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment what is the projected impact on tourism from extracting shale gas by hydraulic fracturing. (AQW 13693/11-15) Mrs Foster: The integrity of the natural environment is an important factor in the future development of the tourism sector. Should any company apply to DETI to drill a well for hydraulic fracturing, the impact on existing industries such as tourism would be fully assessed when considering any planning application. Exploration for Extracting Shale Gas by Hydraulic Fracturing Mrs Overend asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment for an estimated timescale for the completion of exploration for extracting shale gas by hydraulic fracturing; and to outline the next steps once the exploration is complete. (AQW 13694/11-15) Mrs Foster: The exploration stage of a shale gas development project may last between five and ten years although this phase would also include an assessment of the commercial viability of the proposed development through extended gas flow testing and, as such, may be considered the equivalent of the exploration and appraisal stages of a conventional oil or gas development. The timescale for the completion of exploration of shale gas resources depends on the availability of existing information, the timeframe for the exploration work programme included as a Schedule to the petroleum licence and the time required to obtain the necessary statutory consents and complete the exploration phase. Provided the exploration, including the extended testing of gas flow rates, yields favourable results the next stage is for the company to prepare a development programme for the production phase of the WA 497
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RWA 4
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Written Answers to Questions - Northern Ireland Assembly

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