IRELAND has the capacity to become self-sufficient in natural gas and to become a net gas exporter Energy Minister Dermot Ahern said yesterday.

Plans to bring natural gas from the newly-discovered Co Mayo Corrib field are to be further delayed until fears over the safety of a €150m terminal can be put to rest.

GAS production from the Corrib field will be delayed for around the year following the decision by project leaders Enterprise Energy to postpone the laying of the offshore pipeline because of planning issues.

The Corrib gas field, some 70km off the Mayo coast, has been formally approved by Enterprise Energy and its partners Statoil and Marathon Petroleum.