No halting offshore oil deals

The Government has said licence applications that have already been approved will be allowed to proceed and will not be included in its planned phased ban on oil exploration in Irish waters.

Clarifying the terms of the Government’s new exploration policies, Minister of State Seán Canney said all future and new licensing rounds in Ireland’s coastal waters — from the Atlantic to the Celtic Sea and the Irish Sea — will only be for natural gas and will be closed to oil exploration.