Frank Fahey (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

I move amendment No. 49:

In page 18, to delete lines 3 to 10 and substitute the following:

10A.—(1)(a) In the interests of the proper and effective regulation of the electricity and natural gas markets and the formulation of policy applicable to such proper and effective regulation, the Minister may give such general policy directions to the Commission, as he or she considers appropriate, to be followed by the Commission in the exercise of its functions.

(b) Notwithstanding the generality of paragraph (a), such general policy directions may have regard to the following issues—

(i) security of energy supply,

(ii) sustainability of energy supply,

(iii) competitiveness of energy supply, or

(iv) such other matter which the Minister considers appropriate.".

In the first instance, I propose to comment on amendments Nos. 49, 52 and 55. Amendment No. 49 addresses issues raised by Deputy Broughan on Committee Stage. It identifies certain issues such as those captured under the three separate headings on the Department's Green Paper on energy policy, to which the Minister may have regard in any general policy direction given to CER. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list as the Minister will require the necessary flexibility to meet a variety of competing market and regulatory issues and contingencies, some of which may not be easily predicted at this stage. The issues mentioned in the provision are sufficiently broad to meet most if not all contingencies, including the issues of energy security, sustainability, fuel poverty and pricing, as identified by the Deputy.

Amendments Nos. 52 to 55, inclusive, follow on an amendment originally proposed by Deputy Eamon Ryan and from discussions which took place on Committee Stage. It is proposed to increase the minimum number of days within which representations may be made relating to proposed policy directions from the Minister to the CER from 21 to 30 and to require the Minister to submit a copy of the proposed policy direction to the Joint Committee on Communications, Marine and Natural Resources for consideration. The changes to subsection (5) are consequential to those made to subsection (3) and simply refer to the Minister's obligations under the amended subsection. Given that these incorporate the points raised by Deputies in the majority of their amendments, Opposition amendments Nos. 50, 51, 53 and 54 fall as a necessary consequence of approval of the amendment.

As regards Deputy Broughan's amendment No. 56, the issue of targets for renewable energy within appropriate timeframes is addressed in detail in the Green Paper on energy policy. While the sentiment behind the Deputy's proposal is laudable, the dates proposed are unrealistic and have little grounding in solid data or evidence. Changes in technology, new energy sources and national and international issues are constantly evolving. The CER's gas capacity statement and EirGrid's generation adequacy reports project seven and five years into the future, respectively, which are more realistic timeframes. Business planning to a targeted 34 or 44 years in the future can have little or no concrete footing in present realities and, while we may wish to be aspirational in our goals, we must also be realistic.

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