Budget Day protest against the Great Gas Giveaway

dublin | anti-capitalism | event notice Tuesday December 01, 2009 17:07 by C - Shell to Sea

On Budget Day, 9th December members of Shell to Sea will hold a protest outside the Dáil to highlight the disgracefully giveaway of Irish oil & gas to foreign multinationals.

The protest will start at 10 am and continue throughout the day.

At a time when the Government will be implementing savage cuts to nearly everyone in the country, they are still unwilling to do anything terms that disgraced politicians Ray Burke and Bertie Ahern gave to oil companies.

Under these terms the control of the oil and gas off the west coast of Ireland, valued very conservatively at €420 billion, has been given over to do with the oil companies what they wish.

A US Government study in 2007 on the oil & gas terms of countries worldwide showed that Ireland has the second worst deal in the world only after Cameroon.
The current terms mean for Corrib Shell will:
- Own 100% of the gas
- Pay no royalties to the Irish State
- Can write off 100% of their costs against tax
- Have profits taxed at 25% (the international average is 68% for oil-producing countries
- Can export the gas outside Ireland
- Can choose whether or not to sell the gas back to Bord Gáis at full market rates.

A recent Irish Examiner article showed that Shell E&P Ireland have paid no tax at all since 2004. Between 2004 & 2007 they received tax credits worth €24 million. Despite the propaganda to the contrary, there will only be somewhere between 30 and 70 permanent jobs at the Bellanaboy refinery.

So at the same time when the Government will likely raise taxes on Irish people, they will leave Shell (a company that made profits of €24 billion in 2008) untaxed. The Government will institute cuts against the most vulnerable people in this country and yet let Shell write off all the cost the have incurred on this disaster of a project. Shell have been bribing some people in North West Mayo significantly for the last 5 years, yet all that money will ultimately come from the taxpayer as it can be written off as a development cost. Likewise Shell were fined €3000 in court this September for contempt of court, yet this too will be paid by the taxpayer.

On the 9th of December also members of Shell to Sea will be appearing in Belmullet District court on various charges relating to their continuing opposition to Shell’s plans.

Please come to the Dáil to lend your support and to voice your outrage.