Dublin - Event Notice
Thursday January 01 1970

Valentine’s Day - Shell 2 Sea picket outside the Dail

Monday February 11, 2008 18:32

by Shell 2 Sea

To mark Valentine’s Day come join Shell 2 Sea highlight the sweetheart deal that Bertie & Co have given to the oil companies.

Bertie & Andy Pyle - The love that dare not speak its name

On Thursday 14th Feb member of Shell to Sea will hold a protest outside the Dail to highlight the outrageous “sweetheart deal” that corrupt politicians (ie. Ray Burke & Bertie Ahern) have given to the oil and gas companies looking to drill off the coast of Ireland.
A bus from Bellanaboy will arrive at the Dail at 12 noon. Please come and let Bertie & Co know that you don’t accept their dodgy dealings.

A brief look at the deal is:

In 1975, then Minister for Industry and Commerce Justin Keating introduced licensing terms for oil and gas exploration. Included in these terms was the ability for Ireland to take a maximum of 50% stake in any find and production royalties of between 8-16% and production bonuses depending on the size of the find.

In 1987, then Minister for Energy Ray Burke began negotiating with the oil and gas companies who were looking for more favourable licensing terms. These negotiations included Ray Burke meeting with the oil & gas executives alone, with his department officials being excluding from the meetings. The real question remains unanswered "What happened at these meetings"?

In April 1987, Ray Burke told the Dail that he was considering changing the licensing terms: "I will ensure that no obstacle is left in the way of exploration in our offshore". Then on the 30th September 1987, Ray Burke announced his changes. These included abolishing the option for the State to take a stake in any find off our coast, exempting any royalty payments, a 100% tax write-off against profits on investment for exploration, development and production. However even Ray Burke chose to leave the corporation tax at 50% saying that it would be "over-generous" to reduce this tax further. However this recommendation didn't stop Bertie Ahern from halving the oil industry corporation tax, five years later.
Dick Spring has previous called the Ray Burke changes “an act of economic treason”
So this basically means that companies are being given free access to the potentially massive natural resources off the coast of Ireland. Then Ireland has to buy its own oil and gas back off the companies for full market price.

Valentines Day