Debate contribution: Ban Petroleum Licensing and Fracking

Debate contribution by Mr Conor Murphy on 29 April 2024.

MLA

Mr Conor Murphy

Party at the time

Sinn Féin

Date

29 April 2024

Type

Debate contribution (made as a minister)

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Ban Petroleum Licensing and Fracking

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4486664

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I welcome the opportunity to speak about this important issue. Climate change is one of the defining challenges of our time, and moving away from fossil fuels will be a vital part of the transition towards a greener economy and a more sustainable way of life. Reducing carbon emissions is one of my four key objectives. Reaching net zero by 2050 is both a legal requirement and a moral obligation to the well-being of future generations. I want to see a just transition to net zero meaning that it is used as an opportunity to create a more equal society. Our wealth of national resources such as wind, biomethane and geothermal enables us to become self-sufficient in and even an exporter of affordable renewable energy. Work is ongoing to use those resources to our advantage. Here, in the Stormont estate, my Department is beginning a geothermal demonstrator project to use the heat beneath our feet. That project, along with another demonstrator in County Antrim, will give us vital information about how to decarbonise the heat sector. We have an abundance of wind on this island. My Department is working to maximise the potential of onshore and offshore with a renewable electricity support scheme. The scheme will incentivise investment in larger renewable electricity projects, guarantee fair pricing for locally produced electricity and encourage a diverse range of renewable resources for secure energy supply. Therefore, the scheme is an important part of meeting the 2030 legislative target of 80% electricity consumption from renewables. Due to our large agriculture sector, we also have the potential to use biomethane to support our pathway to net zero and, at the same time, contribute to regional balance. The energy efficiency capital grant opens today. It will help local businesses to reduce costs and build resilience through energy efficiency. Businesses can now apply for a grant to buy and install energy-efficient equipment, including, in certain cases, solar panels. That will help to reduce their energy consumption and carbon emissions. In addition to the environmental impacts, the past few years have shown us the economic risk that we run by continuing to rely on fossil fuels. The cost-of-living crisis has largely been driven by increased energy costs, leading to higher bills and increased prices across the board. By developing local sources of energy, we have the opportunity to break the link with global commodity prices and become price-makers rather than price-takers. In meeting our net zero targets, a key priority is to move from petroleum to renewables. The Department for the Economy has the power to grant licences to companies to search for and extract onshore oil and gas. My Department recently consulted on the petroleum licensing system. The consultation opened on 15 January and closed on 12 April. Research carried out as part of the review found that the positive economic impacts are limited and the negative environmental and social impacts are potentially severe, depending on how much petroleum activity takes place. The vast majority of respondents to the consultation supported the move away from fossil fuels. The South of Ireland and Wales have recently banned all onshore petroleum activity, and Scotland has taken a decision on hydraulic fracturing, known as "fracking".

First, if it is a planning application, it is a matter for the Department for Infrastructure. Secondly, if it is the same issue as the one that, I think, the Member is raising, that is being decided by the council in relation to the application. As I was saying, it is time for us to act, and I intend to ban all forms of petroleum exploration and production, including fracking. That will help us to transition from fossil fuels to renewables. I will soon ask Executive colleagues to approve a ban, and, if that is granted, I will introduce legislation to the Assembly to ban onshore petroleum licensing. It will require amendments to the Petroleum (Production) Act (Northern Ireland) 1964 and other regulations. The time involved in developing the legislation means that it will be introduced in 2025. In the meantime, my Department will not accept or process onshore petroleum licensing applications. I will turn to some of the points that were raised in the debate. I thank Members for contributing to it. I am sure that the proposer of the motion will address the issue that was raised in the amendment. The consultation closed about two weeks ago. We have to develop a policy and bring it to the Executive for approval. That would immediately introduce a moratorium from the Department in dealing with any of the issues, and we then have to devise legislation and bring it through. If that can be done this year, that is grand — I would be happy to move on it sooner — but, every time we propose doing something, an amendment is tabled that says, "You must do it quicker". To be honest, it would be helpful if the people who tabled the amendments gave examples of when they held ministerial office and were able to turn such things around within that type of time frame. Otherwise, it is just a bit of grandstanding, as far as I am concerned. I am not overly exercised about it. If we can do it within this year, happy days, we will do that, but I have been here a long time, and I have no memory of the party that tabled the amendment doing things in that superfast way when it ran Departments. Maybe it is just setting a higher standard for the rest of us because it has more faith in us, but that remains to be seen. Phillip Brett mentioned household support schemes. We will consult in the coming weeks on a proposed funding scheme for low-carbon heat. The funding for 2024-25 is already available through NISEP, which the Utility Regulator operates, but we are, obviously, looking at other issues. David Honeyford and Danny Donnelly raised planning issues. I absolutely get it that movement in all these areas requires joined-up processes. As I said during Question Time, where we find bottlenecks in the system, we have to make sure that one part of government does not contradict what another is doing. I am happy to talk to my colleagues in the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs to make sure that we move together on issues that are of critical importance to us. Mike Nesbitt talked about tidal energy, and interesting debate ensued. I say to him that fixed and floating turbines for tidal are under consideration as part of the offshore renewable energy action plan and that my officials are leading on that. While tidal is yet to be developed in a way that can produce the things that we would like, it is nonetheless still under active consideration, as, I am sure, he will be glad to know. Steve Aiken talked about grid connections and a joined-up system for electricity infrastructure. I had a conversation about that with my colleague Eamon Ryan when we were at the North/South Ministerial Council (NSMC) plenary, and we intend to meet in the next couple of weeks to develop that conversation further, because there is a realisation that the system has to be there in order to support what we want to do on renewables. The ambition on that side of the border is the same as it is on this side, which is to put ourselves in a space where we are self-sufficient and perhaps even an exporter. In that sense, I hope that connectivity with France or with Wales or Scotland would mean a channel going from here to there rather than the other way round. Danny Donnelly raised a point about the gas caverns. I am told that those have the potential to store renewable gases such as hydrogen. I know that the debate on that goes on in East Antrim, and I am keen to see it roll on. John Blair raised a point about immediate action being required. The moment that the Executive approve the policy document that I intend to bring forward in the not-too-distant future is the time for immediate action on a moratorium. We then need to follow through with legislation. In effect, the legislation will enforce the action that we will already have taken. That is why trying to shoehorn legislation into this calendar year, as opposed to letting it be done properly, is, as I say, probably not the most important consideration. Putting the moratorium in place by getting the policy decision taken and following that through with legislation is, for me, the important matter in all this. I record my strong support for the motion and for a just transition to a greener economy that focuses on renewable energy and protects our environment. I look forward to legislating to enact a ban on all forms of onshore petroleum exploration and production. The amendment looks for that to happen earlier than is possible for us, but let us hope that we can make progress as quickly as possible, as I said.

The key point is that we need to get a policy document on the back of the consultation, which has just closed, and we need to get that to the Executive and, in effect, take the decision and follow through with legislation at the earliest possible time.

1,561 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 10:20 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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