Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)

As the Minister will be aware, yesterday evening the ESB announced plans to close Tarbert Island power station. This came as a major shock to everyone concerned, particularly the plant's workforce, because it had earlier been proposed to make a major investment in the station which would guarantee its role in electricity production until at least 2015. For this reason, while I accept the need to reduce Ireland's dependency on oil, I question the decision to close down the facility. Tarbert Island power station has a generating capacity of 620 MW of oil fuelled power. Yesterday, for example, it produced 500 MW of power, while on Tuesday, working at full capacity, it produced 625 MW of power. The decision to close the plant, therefore, strikes me as strange. As the Bill provides that the Minister may take emergency measures by ministerial order in the event of a sudden crisis in the energy market, I ask him to take an interest in this decision.

To give a brief history of the electricity generation station at Tarbert, the ESB purchased the 65 acre site for an oil-fired power station in the 1960s. The choice of location was based on the availability of deep water facilities for off-loading fuel oil tankers and an abundant supply of cooling water. Oil tankers carrying more than 80,000 tonnes of fuel have unloaded at the ESB jetty in Tarbert, which has a storage capacity of 250,000 tonnes of fuel. Such reserves provide security against temporary disruption and contribute to the national strategic reserves. The site's other advantages include its connection to the grid, the availability of major infrastructure and the fact that it is one of the best sites for a power generating station in Europe. Will the Minister comment on the strange decision to close the facility?

As a result of the closure of Tarbert Island power station, the locality will lose 129 jobs. While the employees concerned will be redeployed within the network, nevertheless the unit in which they work, which provides direct employment for 129 people, will be lost to the area which has experienced no State, semi-State or private development in recent years. Despite being acknowledged as one of the prime natural ports in Europe, the area has been largely neglected due to its lack of basic political clout — no representative from north Kerry has had ministerial responsibility for some time. In addition, as many as 200 people working with service providers, such as maintenance operations and suppliers of the restaurant, will also be affected by this highly questionable decision. I ask the Minister, who is in charge of the ESB, to review the company's decision and discuss it with a delegation from Tarbert as soon as possible with a view to finding a way forward. Failing a move to reverse the decision, Tarbert Island must be singled out for a new power station. Maybe that is what the ESB intends to do but we should hear the ESB's view on this matter. We have a prime site, strategically located with all the infrastructure in place, and with a connection to the national grid, which apparently represents 50% of the provision of a new station. It is in place with an abundant supply of water and is located in what could be the nerve centre of the future development of the mid-west region. A major review of this decision should be undertaken.

I welcome the opportunity to make some points concerning wind energy, having been involved in such a project. The issue of biofuels is important for the agricultural industry, as is the question of solar panels, although we do not seem to have any policy to promote solar energy.

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