Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Second Stage debate on the Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006. The Bill is comprehensive, dealing with a number of aspects of the energy sector. It provides for regulation on all-island markets, it deals with electricity interconnection, with gas and electrical safety, with the full opening of the gas market and the issues that arise from this. It also deals with the need for greater powers of policy direction for the regulator. A number of other emergency measures are provided for in the Bill. By any standards it is a comprehensive Bill and deserves a thorough debate in this House.

It is timely that we are discussing energy matters generally in the House, as energy is fast becoming a major political and economic issue and is now on top of our agenda in this House and on top of the Government agenda. I say that because of a number of factors. There is the issue of ever-increasing oil and energy prices. Currently, a peak in oil production is forecast. We also have the issue of the Kyoto Protocol and the need to significantly reduce our carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions. As Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Environment and Local Government, I am very conscious of that problem. It is an issue that is beginning to catch the public imagination. Certainly, business is now familiar with the obligations placed on it to adhere to the national allocation plan and our obligations under the Kyoto Protocol. There is also the global situation with regard to the exponential growth in demand from China, India and other dynamically growing economies. It is obvious, therefore, that a debate on energy regulation and energy supplies is overdue. We must deal with these major issues now.

There has been much debate recently, and particularly this week, about nuclear power. The debate was initiated by the publication of a Forfás report on energy and by developments in the United Kingdom, particularly remarks by the British Prime Minister, Mr. Tony Blair, in advance of a consultation process in the UK on energy needs. The British Prime Minister has put nuclear power firmly back on the agenda in the UK and has expressed the view that the nuclear option is the way to proceed, having regard to the issues I mentioned.

We should reject many of the recommendations in the recent Forfás report on energy. We should reject the tone it adopted in recommending that Ireland develop a nuclear energy strategy. The Government and the Minister are strongly opposed to nuclear power. A Fianna Fáil-led Government introduced the Electricity Regulation Act 1999, which makes it illegal to produce nuclear energy in Ireland. Those who have suggested there are good economic or business grounds for pursuing the nuclear option need to look at the full picture.

We cannot sacrifice the future of the environment for current electricity demand. Neither can we allow the debate on nuclear energy to be hijacked by concerns about global warming and energy supplies, despite the recent decision by the UK Government to reconsider building new nuclear power plants. There is no justification for the adoption of a nuclear energy policy. The industry carries with it serious environmental, nuclear proliferation and safety risks. The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Environment and Local Government visited the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant earlier this year and what the members witnessed there was uninspiring and certainly would not encourage those who suggest we should pursue a nuclear energy policy.

It is the Government's duty to protect the health and well-being of its citizens. The introduction of nuclear power in Ireland would jeopardise this, despite the Forfás recommendation. The Forfás report ignores the real economic costs and the unsustainable environmental legacy for future generations. The solution would in the long run be worse than the problem.

The environment committee visited the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant. There have been many accidents during the years at the plant. The members of the committee were anxious to investigate the recent accident at THORP where a leak occurred but was undetected for a long time. I welcome the efforts of the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to hold the authorities in the United Kingdom to account for these incidents. The Minister has been strong on this issue. In a press release earlier this month, he welcomed the decision of the UK safety regulator to bring a criminal prosecution against British Nuclear Group Sellafield Limited in respect of the leak at the THORP plant in 2005.

The members of the environment committee sought explanations as to why the leak was undetected and sought assurances regarding the response of the authorities at the time. We did not get those assurances. The decision by the UK safety regulator to being a criminal prosecution is welcome. I hope lessons will be learned from the incident.

The Sellafield plant continues to be a major issue for Irish people. It is a threat to our environment and to the health and safety of the people, particularly those living on the east coast. The recent RTE drama on this issue, while a little over the top, did some good in that it focused attention on the issue and on how we might respond to such an accident should it occur. The Minister is pursuing a number of legal actions under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Following an initial legal action taken by the State, it has established a right to be informed of all events relating to Sellafield. A genuine dialogue and consultation is taking place.

I accept there are problems with the legal action initiated under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. We have received the judgment of the Advocate General of the European Union suggesting that this case should have been initiated in the EU institutions. The final judgment on this issue is awaited. We must be alert to that judgment and be ready to pursue every available option through the EU institutions to highlight our serious concerns about the operation of the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant. I have every confidence in the Government to deal effectively with this. In March the UK authorities decided to privatise the Sellafield facility, which raises concerns in Ireland. There is no suggestion that privatisation is automatically bad. We need, however, to be conscious of the structure of the UK nuclear industry and how privatisation may compromise health and safety in the operation of these plants. The UK Prime Minister, Mr. Tony Blair, has put nuclear power back on the agenda with his recent suggestion that ten new nuclear power plants be built in the United Kingdom. For Ireland, it raises concerns over which locations will be chosen for the sites. It seems several locations will be on the United Kingdom's west coast and the Wylfa site, particularly, is under discussion.

There are also concerns about the waste generated by nuclear power. That waste will be brought to the Sellafield reprocessing plant. When it comes to waste, nuclear fuel is not a clean option. The Joint Committee on Environment and Local Government viewed the highly active storage tanks at the Sellafield plant. It was an interesting experience to stand atop a large concrete silo and feel the heat on the concrete coming from the stored waste underneath in what I thought were like Guinness kegs. I could not wait to get out of that particular section of the plant. What can be done with nuclear waste in the long term? Should it be buried deep in caverns in the Irish Sea? Are we postponing the problem for several more generations? Although global warming raises concerns, the nuclear option also has serious environmental consequences.

There is also the issue of a terrorist attack on any of these nuclear power stations. While there are confidential exchanges between the Departments of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and Defence and the UK security authorities on the issue, it does raise serious concerns.

Yesterday was national biodiversity day. I congratulate the Irish Independent on the supplement it produced to celebrate the day. It contained a series of interesting articles on the subject that reflected on the fragility of our biodiversity systems and how they can be impacted upon. Energy is one particular factor which can greatly impact upon a system. There is more renewed interest in biodiversity.

I congratulate the Minister for the initiative he recently announced for the production of electricity from renewable energy technologies. It intends to double the contribution of renewable sources in electricity production to 13.2% by 2010. Additional capacity will supply the electricity needs of 260,000 homes. The renewable energy feed-in tariff programme will support the construction of an initial target of at least 400 MW of new renewable energy powered electricity generating plants.

I welcome the announcement earlier this year of grants for the domestic sector for renewable energy. Grants are available for householders who wish to install solar panels, wind generators and so forth. Television programmes by Duncan Stewart and others have demonstrated there is a large interest in this technology which has been underestimated by the House. Many people are installing these devices on their own initiative. I warn the Minister that there will be a huge take-up of the grants scheme and he may want to watch the financing of it.

This is an important Bill that has initiated a worthwhile discussion on our energy needs and I commend it to the House.

See this speech in context