Mr. Garrett Blaney:

I do not have direct figures for losses. I refer the Senator to EirGrid as the technical expert on that. Obviously, from a regulatory point of view we are keen that it does what it can to try to minimise losses. Losses are a cost to the consumer. There is always a loss in every transmission cable. The degree of loss depends on the selection of the transformers and the type of conductor they use, but I refer the Senator to the technical experts in EirGrid if he is looking for an exact figure on losses.

If the plan before us is that a large amount of electricity is to be generated in the South and transmitted to the North with those losses, that is an important number for our calculations here. It would be quite sizable and makes the case for the relative attractiveness of undergrounding when one takes into account the social cost of pylons, which members have spoken about, plus the transmission losses.

The other issue raised is why Northern Ireland has only three stations for 1.8 million people. If we are not measuring the social cost of transmitting electricity over very long distances - and, in fact, there is a substantial loss of energy when we are doing that - it may be that wind turbines should be placed close to Coolkeeragh or Kilroot or wherever. It may be that it would be more efficient for coal to go to Derry to generate electricity rather than going to Moneypoint to generate electricity that is then sent by wire to Northern Ireland with losses. This project is so unpopular in Meath, Monaghan and north County Dublin that it is damaging the image of the energy industry. As Deputy Patrick O'Donovan said, people do not expect to see any reduction in costs. If it will cost consumers 3% extra on their bills to do without the pylons while having more electricity generated in Northern Ireland close to where it is consumed, we should look at those options. It must be the same to bring in the coal, and the wind is the same. One simply takes into account the full costs of transmission and locates the power stations near the centres of demand. Given that we have about 40 generating plants for 4.8 million people here, three in Northern Ireland seems very few. Is that the source of the problem? We know the South has huge excess generating capacity. Colm McCarthy described it very well in the Sunday Independentyesterday and he is a former director of the ESB and Bord Gáis. Some of that generating capacity should have been built in Northern Ireland.