Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)

I was amazed recently when an executive in a well known energy company referred to the competitive nature of the liquid fuels market — he was contrasting the liquid fuels market with the electricity market. Consumers would be entitled to ask the question, to what competitive market was that gentleman referring. When I travelled from Dublin to the Donegal South-West constituency and to a constituency in Limerick on business for the Labour Party recently, I was astonished to be presented with virtually the exact same price for petrol and diesel to the exact same decimal point from one end of the country to the other. Where is the competition in that market? There is no competition in the retail fuels market. There appears to be simply a cartel operating among a few large operators in each area of the market. We know for certain that cartels operate within the heating oil sector and recently there was a series of court convictions in that regard.

We have heard news today that Topaz will take over the Statoil network of petrol stations, having taken over the Shell service stations last year. That means that Topaz will supply more than 400 services stations throughout this country and it will have a significant interest in oil importation and storage in Dublin, Cork and Galway. The latest news today means that Topaz will control 40% of the retail market and 45% of the commercial market. Does that not represent dominant market power? Do the Minister, Deputy Dempsey, and the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment not have grave responsibilities in this regard? This Bill could have presented an opportunity to set parameters for real competition in the domestic oil market. I am aware that the Bill primarily deals with the critical issue of oil reserves, but it could have been used as a vehicle to promote a truly competitive market. The Minister spoke in the context of our Labour Party policy of bringing forward measures in that respect in the communications Bill. Our policy is to give co-competition powers to ComReg and to the Competition Authority to regulate broadband companies. Is there not also a strong case to give CER, the energy regulator, some co-competition powers, with the Competition Authority, over the oil market as the regulator has over the gas and electricity markets? We should consider expanding section 30 to allow NORA to transmit regular key information on the Irish oil industry and market to CER and the Competition Authority and to give those agencies a clear additional mandate to vigorously police the oil industry.

The Labour Party believes the issue of fuel and energy poverty should be placed at the top of the political agenda, as I have said to the Taoiseach on the Order of Business on several occasions. Last winter we had the spectacle of vulnerable and low income elderly householders trying to avoid turning on their oil and gas central heating until as late as possible in the evening. I met some elderly people who were wearing overcoats in their homes in the afternoon because they could not afford to turn on the heating. People in rural areas in particular are heavily dependent on oil central heating. Is it not the job of the Minister and the Government to devise strategies to keep our senior citizens and other vulnerable citizens warm this coming winter? Last winter was the coldest one I remember. In so far as profiteering and market dominance in oil pricing is occurring, this Bill is a lost opportunity by the Government to help restore competitive markets.

Section 16 permits NORA to establish subsidiaries which I warmly welcome. Given the enormous difficulties we have had in regard to the Shell Corrib field, will the Minister consider inserting a provision in this section whereby NORA might have a subsidiary interest in the area of exploration? The Corrib saga showed a total dearth of information — the Minister will recall our meetings at the early part of the Corrib crisis and the Private Notice Questions the Acting Chairman, Deputy Cowley, and I tabled — on Ireland's possible offshore oil and gas resources. The petroleum affairs division of the Department at that time seemed to be overwhelmed by the complexity of the issues. Is it not clear that Ireland's oil and energy security should be addressed in a holistic manner?

This State, like Norway, Denmark, Canada and many other oil and gas provinces, must be in a position to deal with the oil majors from a position of knowledge and strength — and knowledge is strength. A prerequisite for this could be to have an enhanced NORA with full powers to protect our oil security, including managing the likely exploration process in the best interests of the people. I might return to this aspect by tabling amendments on Committee Stage when the Bill is dealt with by the Select Committee on Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, and the Minister might support such a proposal.

Forfás recently released a report entitled A Baseline Assessment of Ireland's Oil Dependence: Key Policy Consideration. As the Minister will remember, the report examined the extent of the vulnerability of the Irish economy to the peaking of oil production and the policies that were urgently necessary for preparing for such an event. The Forfás report highlighted our over-dependence on imported oil and the increasingly vulnerable situation of our society and economy as the supply of oil peaks and dwindles. This is the reality. It is like climate change. We can no longer challenge this reality — only idiots challenge the reality of climate change or that of the peaking of oil production. They are happening. It is clear from the Forfás report that Ireland has one of the highest rates of import dependency across the EU, and that our consumption of oil per capita has increased by more than 50% between 1990 and 2002. Imported oil and gas accounted for over 73% of primary energy used in 2004 compared with 45% in 1990, and oil is the most significant element in that mix. In 2004, oil accounted for 55.8% of Ireland's total primary energy requirement. Our requirement has remained relatively static over recent years, but without indigenous oil production, we are in a vulnerable situation. We are vulnerable to any disruptions in supply because of bad weather, problems with suitable transportation vessels, industrial action at a domestic or international level or the onset of a major crisis. Every few months we hear there may be another crisis.

Energy planning by the Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrats Government continues to take place in a haphazard and ad hoc manner. While I welcome any measure to enhance security of supply in the State, the Minister and his predecessor have not contributed to this security by their failure to act dynamically and urgently to diversify fuel mix — Deputy Durkan outlined well how it could do this — help break our total reliance on imported supplies of fossil fuels and contribute to actions to combat global warming.

Under EU and IEA requirements, our basic requirement is to hold 90 days of strategic oil reserves. We were told our target was 120 days, but today we found out the Government has not met the target.

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