Dáil debates

Thursday, 18 May 2006

Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Second Stage (Resumed).

 

3:00 pm

Photo of Noel DempseyNoel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)

This will enable the national oil reserves agency to be established as a stand-alone body under the aegis of the Minister. I intend to publish the Bill before the summer recess.

The Fuel Acts provide for significant State intervention in the market in the event of a major disruption to oil supplies. It is therefore not necessary to provide for such measures within the scope of the Bill before us. That is the reason they are not in this Bill, as they are catered for in other legislation. Under these Acts, the Government may make an order authorising the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources to intervene "whenever the Government is of the opinion that the exigencies of the common good necessitate the regulation or control by the Minister on behalf of the State of the acquisition, supply, distribution or marketing of fuels" held by private sector oil companies.

I refer to a point made by Deputy Gogarty, who made a request some time ago during an Adjournment debate. It was to discuss "the need for the Government to order a nationwide audit of domestic gas installations from meter to house, where originally connected by Bord Gáis, as there is evidence that pipes have not been properly insulated in a large number of cases, leaving an ever-present risk of gas explosion". I reiterate that there was misunderstanding and I acknowledge that the Deputy was suspended from the House when he tried to raise the matter again. In preparing its reply, the Department was unsure whether the Deputy referred to thermal or electrical insulation. Because of the tight timeframe in which it was drafted the Department assumed he meant thermal insulation.

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