Why does Eamon Ryan keep telling the same lies about Corrib Gas?

national | environment | opinion/analysis

Friday November 07, 2008 15:39

by Oedipus at the National Theatre

Minister knows he is misleading the public

Before the lawyers get busy, let's have a look at what he said yesterday when he announced that the Fioanna Fáil/Geen Party government was setting up a talking shop to give the impression that they care what people think about the project (which will go ahead, it seems, regardless of whatever the "Corrib Gas Community Forum" says or concludes).

In the Irish Independent today, the Minister is quoted as saying the following:
"Mr Ryan said it would give the State greater energy security, help bring down gas prices and bring in €1.7bn in corporation taxes over the project's estimated 15-20 year lifespan."

Let's look at that statement in it's three parts:

1. According to Shell's figures the amount of gas in the Corrib field is equivalent to what Ireland consumes in about eight years. Under the terms of its gas exploration licence, the Shell consortium is at liberty to sell the gas to the highest bidder, even if that bidder is outside the state. In other words, Bord Gáis will have to bid against buyers of gas in other countries.

At the Exploring Atlantic Ireland conference in Dublin in 2006, the assistant secretary of the Department of the Marine and Natural Resources, Martin Brennan, told the international audience of potential investors in Ireland's offshore gas that "there are now three interconnectors between Ireland and the UK, so if you do hit a gush, there's plenty of market out there."

So how will it give the state greater energy security when the Corrib partners are allowed to sell it to whoever they want? Minister Ryan knows all this, so why does he repeat the lie that Corrib will give the State greater energy security?

Is there any threat to security of supply anyway? No one in the know seems to think there is. What evidence does he have that this problem (which Corrib does not solve) actually exists?

2. Ryan says the Corrib exploitation will "help bring down gas prices". But since he knows that
Bord Gáis must buy the gas at market rates, he knows this is not true.

On RTÉ radio's Five-Seven-Live on Friday 21 July 2006, David Bunworth, the head of Bord Gáis Energy Supply, was asked would the Corrib gas project make any difference to the price Irish people pay for gas. "No, it won't," he replied.

Is the Minister saying that Bord Gáis is lying? Or is he? And if it's him - why does he keep telling the same lies?

3. Minister Ryan says the Corrib field will "bring in €1.7bn in corporation taxes over the project's estimated 15-20 year lifespan." Where does this figure come from?

Shell are allowed to write off 100 per cent of their exploration and development costs going back 20 years, and they can also include ancillary expenses like the legal costs of jailing the Rossport Five. So far in Ireland, Shell have not paid a cent in tax, and Shell Exploration and Production Ireland Limited record losses every year. Why does the Minister think that Shell will abandon their practice of paying as little tax as possible in every area they operate in?

Of course, Minister Ryan may know some things we don't. He is surrounded, after all, by the best brains in the industry, who give him top notch advice. You can see them going in and out of his office whenever he is there. many of them have been working in the energy business for many years, employed by the big companies like, er, Shell.

But he's his own man. He is a committed environmentalist who believes that the threat of climate change is the biggest problem this country has ever faced.

So the idea that a Green Party Minister would justify the construction of a fossil fuel burning refinery based on lies supplied to him by industry lobbyists is preposterous isn't it?

Isn't it?

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Comments (11 of 11)

Nice Dissection

by Mark C

Fri Nov 07, 2008 15:51

Well done, Oedipus,

This is a very well put together dissection of the lies, lies, and more lies that we are constantly fed by our "representatives". It shows how shallow the thoughts behind them are that someone like you, Oedipus, blind, can see through the smokescreen.

Reading something like this always reminds me of I.F. Stone's statement to journalism students: "Just remember one thing: GOVERNMENTS LIE".

Mark.

€1.7 billion? According to Goodbodys it was worth €2 bn. to Ireland Inc.

by Ray - Cork Shell to Sea

Fri Nov 07, 2008 17:39

Let's not forget that to Shell Corrib is worth well in excess of €20bn., and that is an extremely conservative estimate, lower than the €50bn figure informed sources put on the Corrib field back in 2006. Also lets not forget the €400bn value put on Ireland's known offshore oil and gas resources by DCMENR in their presentation to Big Oil last year. DCMENR advanced this number as a conservative estimate of the resources' value. Please note that the dodgy gas deal is not included in the terms of reference of this brand-new process. Same shite, different minister - the next Advancea Report (sic., Bertie Ahern's mangling of 'Advantica' on RTÉ TV on the 10th of Nov. 2006, after his govt got out the mailed fist at Bellanaboy - others may forget but we never will).

In this brand-new process we're being asked to dialogue with people who have no manifest bona fides whatsoever - An Garda Siochana, the ministers involved in designing and promoting this farrago of 'consultation', Shell, its subcontractors, and the local business class (who lined up last Tues. in Buswell's Hotel in Dublin at the launch of a 'tourism promotion programme' for Erris - perhaps they relish the challenge ten years hence of passing off a pollution-ridden mire as a piece of heaven. Would be right up their street methinks - were there any real community observers at that Greena Fáil greenwash job?). Are we to discuss with Shell's security (blue-uniformed and otherwise) how they could harass the local community more effectively? Are we to ignore the chairperson's (Joe Brosnan) long career links with An Garda Siochana in the Dept of Justice? He is a securocrat plain and simple, sent in by the state in yet another attempt to get all the Basques in one exit. Does his retired status make him impartial? Like f**k it does!

Any community group that falls for this 'initiative' is lacking either in intelligence or integrity, perhaps even both. This is my own take on what the two Éamons are up to on behalf of Shell's armed wing - the Irish misgovernment. This false 'forum' deserves to sink without trace into Broadhaven Bay alongside that stinger section of the Solitaire, and sink it will too!

Note: DCMENR - Dept of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources

New lies

by MacE

Fri Nov 07, 2008 17:56

The Irish Times says "...he (Ryan) says his safety concerns were allayed by the Advantica safety review of the onshore pipeline..." I reckon that's a new lie, I haven't heard Ryan claim it before. The old ones are bad enough, Ryan seems to be using them as some kind of mantra. This man's credentials as an environmentalist are in shreds. He'd have them rolling in the aisles on the continent if he ever decided to share his coalition experiences with Greens there.

Answer: Because he is a liar

by Ireland Ink

Fri Nov 07, 2008 19:04

Eamon Ryan has no integrity, which pervades everything he does.

These talks are a PR exercise; a pathetic attempt to give the Greens back some credibility, and save the Government and Shell a few quid on security (according to O'Cuiv in the Times today)

The fact that such stringent parameters were put on talks, and that the mediator was 'appointed', shows the bad faith involved here.

If the pipe-laying boat hadn't left, the talks would not be happening. They will conclude as soon as it returns. Then it will be back to business as usual, and the wind will have been taken out of the protest sails.

Interesting figures

by Rudiger

Fri Nov 07, 2008 19:08

Good article Oedipus.

There's an interesting article in the Western People this week where Fine Gael TD Michael Ring has begun questioning the oil and gas deal.
“It’s a scandal that the State haven’t control of this; we would complete a lot of projects if we had control.”

It's interesting to hear him getting in on the act now.

Also Eamon Ryan is quoted as saying that development will cost around €3 billion

“Based on an assumption that the combined development and production costs will be close to €3 billion then the tax revenue from the Corrib field would be in the order of €1.7billion,” said Minister Ryan.

Seeing as the quoted value for the Bellanaboy refinery is currently around €300 million where is the other €2.7billion going to be spent. Is this Eamon Ryan saying that he knows what other plans are planned for North Mayo?

Now if Shell bought Corrib for €7 billion and are going to spend €3 billion on developing it, how are the poor souls going to make a profit from a field valued at €9.5 billion.

We can argue figures all day but what ever way they're juggled, we're getting ripped off.

trick

by sponsorship

Sat Nov 08, 2008 00:55

Shell is sponsoring the production of Oedipus at the National Theatre in London. Now anyone who googles for infomation on this (especially in Ireland) will get a link in their results to this article.

Shell is sponsoring Oedipus at the National Theatre

A: It pays well

by Chrissie

Sat Nov 08, 2008 21:40

He's had his 30,000 pieces of silver, & he's not gonna pull the communication cord on the Gravy Train.

Erris Investment Package

by observer

Wed Nov 12, 2008 12:10

Who asked for it. How is it possible in a time of recession? Whose money will be used - the taxpayer or a subvention from Shell in the same manner that Shell gave 3 million euro to Mayo County Council for Glengad road. Beware of government managed Shell money.

.

Eamon Ryan

by oedipus

Wed Jun 17, 2009 04:14

Saw a newly stuck up Eamon Ryan Lyin' sticker on Camden Street today- good stuff!

He's toast at the next election

Greek symbolism

by Aristophanes

Wed Jun 17, 2009 06:17

I see that Shell are sponsoring the play Oedipus. The Oedipus Complex is about the male child's unconscious desire to have its mother by murdering the father. In the Erris saga or epic struggle we see a bit of that with the added celtic mythological ingredient added: mo chlann fein a dhiol a mhathair.

The Lysistrata Complex could be substituted as an effective tactic for winning the battle against the gas grabbers. In the play about Lysistrata the heroine persuades the other women to withhold sexual privileges from their menfolk as a means of forcing them to end the interminable Peloponnesian War. In simple terms: don't fuck with Shell. Tell that to the culture groups that might be offered thirty pieces of silver.

Minister or Messenger?

by Janus

Fri Jun 19, 2009 00:41

It seems to me that Mr. Ryan is merely doing what he is told.
He, like the rest of us has a future.
And, when I see his future, I pity him.
I would also forgive him but this is not up to me.
This is up to the people he is hurting.
The hurt he brings to me is very small when compared with the
hurt he is bringing and will bring to people in the years to come.
We ask him to stand up, to be brave, to fight for his stated beliefs.
But, right now, this is not possible for him.
The people opposing him are not his greatest enemy.
Shell are not his greatest enemy.
His real enemy is within, it is his fear.
He cannot overcome this enemy without help.
But who is there to help him?
Indeed, the politician has not got my support.
But, and say what you will, the man has my pity.

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Why does Eamon Ryan keep telling the same lies about Corrib Gas?

Comments (11 of 11)