Minister for the Marine Noel Dempsey will have a list of possible mediators ready by the weekend for the two sides in the Corrib gas field crisis.
Mr Dempsey told the Dáil last night that the list of people or bodies would be given to both parties in the dispute "to establish their acceptability and to see if we can come up with an agreed name. As soon as that process is complete, the mediator will commence the work."
He said he believed "both sides are now adopting a very positive approach to resolving issues between them. For example, both sides co-operated fully in a visit to the site this morning. At the request of local people two local people were given access to see the work being carried out by the developers."
During a debate on the gas field, Mr Dempsey raised general issues and said it had been suggested that the terminal be sited offshore. "I can only deal with the reality, which is that the proposal made by the developer to my department was for an onshore terminal only. This onshore terminal was considered by the developer to be the most appropriate. I understand that it is now becoming common practice to place terminals onshore rather than at sea."
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said he regretted the way this "flagship project has been handled. The local authority, the Government and Shell company were negligent in their duty."
Labour's Tommy Broughan said the Minister, his predecessors and the Taoiseach "bear a heavy responsibility for the appalling mess which resulted in the imprisonment of the Rossport Five".
