Jerry Cowley (Mayo, Independent)

I am pleased to have the opportunity to contribute to the debate. In his contribution the Minister of State said the new responsibilities of the CER include the regulation and promotion of natural gas safety. That is laudable. The Bill should also have provided for the safety of people, an issue about which I feel strongly. Five men from County Mayo spent 94 days in jail because of their fears concerning the safety of the Corrib gas pipeline. It is a retrograde step for the Government to be part of a process that does not take into consideration the safety of the people. Under the law people trying to ensure safety in their own homes are in fear of going to jail again through a process that has evolved. It is time to take stock and put people before profit.

The Bill provides for steps to be taken by the CER in the event of something going wrong. The circumstances of the five men from County Mayo could not have gone more wrong in that their entire future and that of their families was jeopardised. The Bill is about the regulation and promotion of natural gas safety but should include provision for people safety because homo sapiens matters also.

We have seen the provision of interconnectors and the Bill provides for more equipment for the distribution of natural gas. How often have those interconnectors been used not to bring gas into Ireland but to take it out of Ireland? In the case of Kinsale gas field, the oil companies played ducks and drakes with the Government and managed to manipulate the position. It is amazing that the interconnectors were built given that Ireland was running out of gas and would have to import gas for our needs. Is the interconnector being used to export our gas? As happened in the case of the Rossport five, the fear is that their rights will be trodden over for the purpose of bringing this gas to market. Instead of the interconnectors being used to bring gas into Ireland they will be used to export our gas.

The Bill should contain a provision for the regulation and promotion of natural gas safety and for the safety of the people. It should ensure that if the natural resources of an area are removed there should be some quid pro quo for the people affected. We heard before the last election the great promise made by the Government that gas would be provided to the towns of Mayo. We have been told that again and again but it is an election ploy.

The road from Castlebar to Belmullet is one of the worst dirt tracks in the area. One could hardly call it a road. If Ministers could visit the area more often and see what is happening and where the gas is being taken from they might understand the reason the people are so angry. The best road in the area is between two bogs, that is, the road between Ballinaboy and a bog a few kilometres down the road where it is intended to bring the peat to set up a 9 km terminal inshore, which is daft, and in the process bring this high pressure gas pipeline within a dangerous distance of people's homes. Children going to and from school and shops have to cross that pipeline many times a day. The best road in the area in the one between two bogs and it is for the convenience of Shell. That is a further indictment of Government.

While I agree on the need to regulate and promote natural gas safety, homo sapiens matters also. This is where the problem lies. As the independent regulator for the electricity market, the CER facilitates competition by authorising the construction of new generating plant and licensing companies to generate and supply electricity. In County Mayo many people were gainfully employed in Bellacorick, a turf fired electricity production station. Everything is all right if it is done elsewhere other than in the west. Two new turf based electricity generating stations are being provided in the midlands whereas Bellacorick will be closed with the loss of hundreds of jobs. There should be some provision in the Bill to ensure some degree of balanced regional development. The problem is that there has been a lack of balanced regional development and an inequality of treatment of the west compared to the rest of the country. Some provision should be made for Bellacorick. A questionable decision was made that Bellacorick should not be revamped because of insufficient peat to burn. That decision has been questioned by Professor Seamus Caulfield and others. The last census figures clearly show that west Mayo, which includes Ballina to Newport, is in serious decline. The Bill needs to take cognisance of the fact that there are people involved in this. While our energy needs are important the safety of the people is more important. It was utterly unacceptable that a number of individuals spent 94 days in jail. The right to bodily integrity under the Constitution, as affirmed in the Ryan case, does not appear to matter a whit when it is expedient to bring gas to market. While I have difficulties with regard to the benefits accruing to the State from the Corrib gas deal, my main problem is that lives are being jeopardised. This Bill does not address this issue.

It is regrettable that Shell has created a major pollution problem in Belmullet. What has the company achieved by its actions? Having been informed it would be impossible to build a pipeline facility on a bog, it proceeded with its daft plan to move thousands of tonnes of peat to another bog in an effort to establish foundations for the pipeline. This has placed people in jeopardy, for example, through leakage into the area's drinking water supply.

The underspend of national development plan funding in my area has been a source of great concern. I have raised this issue on many occasions in the House. I want a quid pro quo for Corrib gas to be included in the Bill. This should include provision for special incentive schemes for County Mayo, particularly the north-west of the county, the most socio-economically deprived region in the State. The region also requires greater investment in central infrastructure such as roads, rail and broadband and the front-loading of investment for projects such as the western rail corridor.

The Bill focuses on energy and speakers have pointed to the need to make proper use of resources. The loss of freight services in Ballina and the escalating use of roads for freight transport creates problems. The proportion of freight transported by rail compared to road is minuscule. The Government has lost the plot in this area with oil consumption continuing to rise. Expansion of rail freight services would be a much more effective approach to reducing energy consumption. Instead, however, we are witnessing the complete meltdown of freight services, notably from Ballina to the south east. The Government, if it is interested in the proper use of energy resources, must take urgent action to encourage a return to freight services.

A further problem is the unequal distribution of broadband and the refusal to sanction investment of €29 million for Knock Airport. The promotion of the east and south to the detriment of the rest of the country will result in gross inefficiencies as energies are focused on already congested areas. The possibility of building a third terminal for Dublin Airport will perpetuate uneven regional development. At present, 29 million air passengers fly into the east and south, whereas only 500,000 air passengers fly into the west, with perhaps a further 10 million flying into the North. Imbalanced regional development of this nature does not make sense as only balanced regional development can deliver proper use of resources and energy. Nothing will change until such time as the Government drops its refusal to provide the €29 million required by Ireland West Airport Knock to meet its infrastructural needs for 2006-07 and provides the €365 million needed for the western rail corridor.

Despite its decentralisation plans, the Government has failed to deliver in the west. The Minister for Finance, Deputy Cowen, preaches about the need for balanced development in every budget. The time for talk is over and urgent action is needed. The mid-term review of the national development plan showed an underspend of €3.9 billion in the Border, midlands and western region. Balanced regional development is necessary to achieve proper use of energy and development.

I have raised on other occasions the need for the IDA to work harder for County Mayo. I specifically called for the introduction of a special tax incentive scheme for the county but this has not materialised. There is a bias in the distribution of infrastructural investment which I hope the Government will address. I am aware the Minister for Finance has indicated it will be possible to draw down NDP funding until 2006 and 2008 for projects co-funded by Structural Funds. When I questioned him on the issue he was honest enough to admit there is no plan for the underspend in NDP funds, which is much higher in the BMW region than in the southern and eastern regions, to be distributed as intended. This is regrettable.

Under the previous Government, a group of western Ministers had regular contact with the then Minister of State with special responsibility for rural development and ministerial colleagues on matters of concern to the west and the Western Development Commission. I understand this group has been stood down. A concrete plan, separate from the national development plan, is required if we are to make proper use of our resources and draw down the funding intended for the BMW region.

I hope a serious attempt will be made to address the gross underspend in the BMW region as it is falling further behind. When I highlighted this problem more than a year ago I was led to believe the Government would take action to address it but nothing has happened. I am amazed it does not have a plan in place to guarantee the underspend will be tackled. This is an indictment of the Government.

The Government has squandered our natural resources, including natural gas. Ireland should look towards the example of Norway. Having visited the country, I was impressed by how it uses its natural resources and has managed, for example, to secure co-operation from the oil companies in ensuring the state received a proper return from its natural resources. In my discussions with the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Deputy Noel Dempsey, on this matter he indicated a windfall tax could be introduced if it transpires that the oil companies extract more gas or oil than originally envisaged. How much is the Government being told because the oil companies have played ducks and drakes with it in the past?

The folly of not utilising our natural resources to our maximum advantage is manifest in the Government's policy on granting exploration licences to oil and gas companies for a maximum of five years. I have raised this foolishness previously. We have all heard of the pantomime story of Jack and the Beanstalk. Like foolish Jack, the Government gave away our natural resources for a handful of beans believing it would not get anything from the deal. Unfortunately, this is not a fairy tale with a happy ending because we are deprived of adequate resources. We only need consider the energy and revenue benefits to the country of having natural gas. In the west, people are lying on hospital trolleys and, in some cases, waiting for eight years to be called for a urology appointment by which time they may present with advanced cancer. People are waiting four to five years for rheumatology appointments so they miss the window of opportunity within two years to avoid being crippled for life. Mayo General Hospital does not have a rheumatology or urology unit due to lack of money.

Think about what it would mean for this country if we utilised our energy resources as we should. BreastCheck will not be rolled out until 2009. Due to lack of funds it was not extended throughout the country in 2000 as it should have been. It has already been proven to reduce the death rate from breast cancer by 20% to 30%. At least 65 people in the south and west have died who should not have died. Before it is rolled out in 2009, a total of 250 people will be dead in the south and west unnecessarily. The reason given for not rolling out the service in 2000 was the intricacy and complexity of establishing such a service but that is balderdash. The service has been available in the North since 1993, where the death rate was cut by 20%. The rest of the country did not have the benefit of saving that 20% to 30% due to lack of money.

We could utilise our natural resources by securing the return of money from the oil companies. This money could be used to buy a temporary breast screening service from the private sector. I am not a promoter of the private sector but until the Government can roll out the service throughout the country in 2009 for all citizens, there should be a temporary service. It would save 250 lives. It is a matter of money. The profit from our natural resources could make a major difference in this regard.

Oil companies can hold a licence in this country for up to 19 years. That is a long time. The terrible reality is that we are giving the oil companies something for which they need not do anything more than promise to drill. In those 19 years they do not have to drill. That is ridiculous. Why not give the oil companies a licence for five years? At present, they do not have to do anything with the licence. I asked the Minister, Deputy Noel Dempsey, about this and he said there are 121 exploration wells but only four have been successful. However, we do not know what the oil companies are doing. The Government should consider establishing an oil exploration company to harvest our natural gas and oil. Why do we not have the same confidence in ourselves as, for example, had the Norwegians?

I am glad I had the opportunity to speak on the Bill. The House is now going into recess. Everything stops during the recess and that is wrong. There should be some means whereby we can ask questions. Parliamentary procedures should continue. I urge the Government to think about homo sapiens and to put people before profit.

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