The primary purpose of this study is to generate a Geographical Information System (GIS) containing all the elements that could be impacted by a potential oil spill occurring offshore to the West and South Coasts of Ireland and to classify the coast line with a sensitivity ranking system that can be used to both determine areas of maximum financial or ecological impact. It is envisaged that this information, combined with oil spill models, can be used to make repeatable and reasonable determinations of financial exposure and to assist in determining the most impactful locations for spill response infrastructure.

The primary purpose of this study is to generate a Geographical Information System (GIS) containing all the elements that could be impacted by a potential oil spill occurring offshore to the West and South Coasts of Ireland and to classify the coast line with a sensitivity ranking system that can be used to both determine areas of maximum financial or ecological impact. It is envisaged that this information, combined with oil spill models, can be used to make repeatable and reasonable determinations of financial exposure and to assist in determining the most impactful locations for spill response infrastructure.

Secondary aims to the project are:

— to create a collation of preactivity baseline environmental and coastal use information that can maintained and updated as offshore activity progresses,

— to establish a “master” list of data sources for oil spill modelling to ensure repeatable and standardised outputs and to assess any data gaps,

— to identify gaps in data or understanding about coastal sensitivity that can be the focus of future studies,

— to foster collaboration of Academia, Governmental and Industry bodies in the area of marine environment.

This study is a proposal from the Irish Shelf Petroleum Studies Group (ISPSG) of the Petroleum Infrastructure Programme (PIP).