Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)

As Deputy Durkan said, this amendment seeks to amend the 1999 Act. It stems from our experiences in recent years when we noted the crisis between Russia and Ukraine which threatened European gas supplies. Until gas from the Corrib field comes ashore, we are at the end of a long pipeline. This is clearly a key area that the Minister has rightly inserted into the Bill.

I am not sure if the Chair was in the House during the infamous and harsh winter of 1981-82. My late colleague and party leader Michael O'Leary was Tánaiste at the time and was responsible for the operation of all the systems, including the energy system, in the immediate aftermath of a huge storm. There is also the ongoing threat from terrorism, including the recent worrying reports to the British authorities on nuclear terrorism. There is clearly a huge role for the Minister to play, and Deputy Noel Dempsey has to be commended for including this in the section. I am sympathetic to the Fine Gael amendments as they allow for this House to be called into session in such an emergency. It seems reasonable to add "that the approval of the Dáil" might be required.

It is right that an elected Minister should take responsibility for a serious crisis. That is why I have tabled amendment No. 72. It reads: "In the event of a sudden crisis in the energy market the Minister is responsible for the maintenance and full functioning of the national energy system." If such a crisis were to happen and the Minister was in opposition, he would no doubt say that the Minister of the day must be responsible. However, the experience of recent years is different. The public will ask us why the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney, has not resigned over the issue of long-stay elderly care. The public instinctively feels that the political head should be responsible. This goes outside the remit of this Bill. It does not specifically refer to the CER, although the Minister can direct it and the generating companies and licence holders.

While the Minister might say that it is understood that he is responsible, he refused to answer a question I asked him yesterday about standing gas charges. The Chair will often shoot down my questions and say they are a matter for the CER. The operation and maintenance of the energy system itself must be the Minister's responsibility. He must take responsibility in a time of crisis and were he to fail to discharge that responsibility he would have to resign. Notwithstanding the CER or any other agency or organisation, such as EirGrid or the ESB, the Minister and his successors must be responsible at a time of crisis. In the deep winter of 1981-82, the Tánaiste was regarded as being responsible, and rightly so.

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