Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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I will speak on amendment No. 159 and the Minister can respond to both. Amendment No. 159 relates specifically to the two ESB sites in Lanesborough and Shannonbridge. I will not repeat what I just said, but I will add to it. Kieran Mulvey has been frank and open. While I believe he has been fair to all sides involved, he has been clear in his views on issues. He knows how government works. He has said publicly that the ESB should not proceed with the demolition of the power stations at Lanesborough and Shannonbridge. The ESB official policy on this is that while it is advertising and seeking contractors to demolish both sites, it is still considering other options for the sites. The difficulty is that the ESB is considering options for the sites internally within the company. If the ESB was a run of the mill private company, I could fully understand that. However, it is not a private company. It is a semi-State company. While it has a commercial mandate, and I do not disagree with that, the fact is that it cannot under any circumstances squat on a site to inhibit investment in a region. The company was set up for the specific purpose of electricity supply, but it was also about providing employment. That view is being missed by the ESB. I do not expect the company to employ staff if there is no work for them, but if it cannot utilise a site to create and retain employment, I expect it to release that site to somebody who will do that, rather than coming in with a lump hammer and demolishing the site, which is the current intention.

The ESB is examining internally the potential use of the sites and stations in Lanesborough and Shannonbridge. The reality is that it does not have a use for the power stations in Lanesborough and Shannonbridge. Every one of us has paid for those two power stations through our electricity bills. They are fully paid for, and both facilities have a further ten-year lifespan before they require a major refurbishment. The taxpayers and electricity users in this country have both power stations free of charge for the next ten years. That was the reason a ten-year transition from brown to green energy was put in place for Bord na Móna. These are strategic sites and are extremely useful for other potential investors, but the ESB is saying there are issues relating to title, adjoining landowners and rights of access. Every excuse under the sun will be raised as to why it cannot or should not dispose of those strategic sites.

If the ESB has no use for these sites in power generation and if it were to demolish those sites, I want a commitment from the Government that the sites must be disposed of by the ESB for employment creation in the midlands. That is important because if the Government clarifies that, I believe the ESB will think again. It will not proceed with its plan to demolish the two power stations and, for the first time, will look constructively at other options. I have been presented with two very viable options for both Lanesborough and Shannonbridge whereby they would produce green electricity. This time last year, I put forward a proposal, which I still believe is a viable option, for a third avenue, which is to go to 100% biomass in either or both power plants.

By using the existing Bord na Móna rail network and supporting local landowners to grow willow and biomass I believe that we can make at least one of those power stations financially viable to consume biomass for power generation and to create a significant number of jobs, as well as sequestering carbon from the environment. I can go through in detail with the Minister three separate, viable options in terms of power generation on those sites, but they are not being considered by the ESB at the moment. I believe that is very wrong.

We had a discussion already yesterday about the challenges we have in terms of power generation and stability on the grid as a result of data centres. We have a big challenge in that regard, in particular from 2025 on when we will not have enough generation capacity within the country to meet the significant demands that will be placed on the electricity grid by data centres, yet at the same time we are planning to demolish two power stations within the midland counties, which are strategically located on the grid in terms of grid stability, in particular to provide a reliable electricity supply to the north-west of this country. We are planning to demolish them even though there are viable options that need to be fully considered. We must ensure that those two power stations are not demolished, that we do look at other viable options and that we put an incentive in place, as outlined in amendment No. 159, to look at viable alternatives for those sites that can create employment and hopefully bring about a different approach from the ESB.