Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)

Some 3,500 people are working on the transmission and distribution systems in the ESB. There are 6,500 km of transmission lines, the big lines supported by pylons. They do not break down as often as the 156,000 km of distribution lines. The Deputy can do his own mathematics. If 700 or 800 people were working solely on the transmission lines, ten or 15 times more workers would be required to look after the distribution lines. That estimate is based on a comparison of the number of kilometres of lines in each case.

The Deputy also asked me about the statement I made after I was asked a specific question on the proposal in the Deloitte & Touche report for the atomisation of the company. If he looks up the word "atomisation" in the dictionary, he will find that it means breaking something up into small little parts. The question I was asked related to the proposal in the Deloitte & Touche report to transfer the transmission and distribution assets and to divide the supply network into three separate units.

See this speech in context