Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)

It is a dress rehearsal.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill which is also an opportunity to reflect on the successes of energy companies such as ESB and Bord na Móna. Our generation of politicians is inclined to take the credit for the economic success of the country in the past ten years but many of those companies were set up through the foresight of many of those people who served in this House long before us. This foresight has allowed Ireland to become the economy it is today. When one looks at the period companies such as ESB and Bord na Móna were established, one can see how those people were far ahead of their time and perhaps we will give them their due recognition in time.

This Bill places EirGrid on a proper commercial footing. The days of State companies being regarded as extensions of the social policy of the State are now gone and that is right. EirGrid will undertake a very important role in the coming years. I have the honour of being Vice Chairman of the Joint Committee on Climate Change and Energy Security. Yesterday, the committee was given a stark presentation by the Institute of International and European Affairs on Ireland's climate change strategy and energy security targets. It seems the institute is not hopeful of Ireland meeting those targets. The presentation to the committee described all the areas where targets must be met. The Minister and other speakers may disagree but in the opinion of the institute we will not meet the targets with regard to energy and other areas.

The construction of the interconnector, subject to the authorisation of the Commission on Energy Regulation, is very important. To date, the debate on the interconnector has been about its construction. There are justifiable and considered concerns about the effect on communities of this construction. The Minister has set up a process to deal with those concerns. Colleagues on all sides are taken aback at the turn-out at public meetings of people with genuine concerns about the impact on their daily lives of the project and the pylons. If those concerns had been addressed properly from the start, it might have avoided the current level of concern and agitation. It is hoped the process now in place to address those concerns will allow EirGrid to interact properly with the communities and also with public representatives who have a mandate from those communities to address those concerns. I compliment the Minister on setting up this process.

I welcome the Government decision last July to authorise the Commission on Energy Regulation to arrange a design competition for the interconnector. This is a small country on the periphery of Europe and our energy supply is not secure. This interconnector will allow us to connect with Europe and copper-fasten our energy supply in a way that was not previously possible. A connector of 500 MW will allow us to connect with the UK and allow us to connect onwards. It will also allow us to become an exporter of spare capacity energy generated through wind, wave or any other form which may be developed in the future.

We must regard the issue of security of supply as being very important. The national grid is under pressure and at times is unable to cope with that pressure. In recent years, the ESB and EirGrid have installed temporary, large scale generators around the country in order to assist the grid process. The campaign undertaken by the Minister and SEI in alerting people to proper commercial and domestic energy usage is welcome and needs to be accelerated. I look forward to the roll-out of the smart meter programme in domestic houses because when people are able to see how much inefficient energy usage is costing them and how they can take charge of their usage, this will result in a proper and efficient use of domestic electricity as has happened with many commercial companies.

I am concerned about EirGrid's policies on access to the national grid and in particular for access by wind operators. People developing community wind farms or any kind of commercial wind farms are frustrated not only with the difficulty in obtaining planning permission, but also with the negotiations with EirGrid over access to the grid. The process is cumbersome and slow and does not reflect the commercial realities of these developments and does not seem to be commercially equipped to respond to the demands of the market. I ask that EirGrid examine that process and make it more transparent for the people involved, and more engaged and more urgent in its response to proposals. Otherwise we do not have a hope of generating the extra capacity that is required from wind energy in order to address our climate change targets and our energy demands in years to come.

The all-island single electricity market is just another development that could not have been envisaged ten years ago even though it makes complete economic and practical sense. Unless we maximise the benefits of the all-island economy, we will fail to respond to the challenges I have outlined. The work of EirGrid in maximising the all-island electricity market will be very important but this must be achieved with an eye to efficiency and without taking on the costs of any other market. We already have enough costs of our own. EirGrid must examine the benefits of the Irish market without taking on the difficulties in other markets.

Deputy Bannon spoke about the restrictions which will be imposed on bog cutting and this is an important point. Many people in rural areas have a deep attachment to the bog and to the burning of turf. They are not Moneypoint-type generations but rather are domestic users who use turf in the range or the open fire and are exercising rights to the bog which have been in their families for generations. The SAC, special area of conservation, designation which will begin next year is prohibitive and is the cause of much concern to those who believe their rights are being taken from them. We all know that one should never challenge an Irish person about their rights to land and if that challenge comes from an outside body, be it Europe or anywhere else, it is all the worse.

I refer to the issue of unused bogs which are held by Bord na Móna in its reserves. Many thousands of acres, much of it in my own constituency, which up to now was used by Bord na Móna to power the Bellacorick power station which is now closed, are now lying unused. I agree that some of this bog needs to be protected but it is a very important economic resource and it cannot be allowed to just lie there as an exhibition piece for generations to come.

Economic use can be made of such bogs, as has been proven in many of the Scandinavian countries, where they are put to use in an environmentally efficient manner. I ask the Minister to examine the economic and environmental indications of opening up Bord na Móna bogs to see if there is a sufficient supply and to examine the environmental and economic impacts of doing so.

The challenge presented to the committee yesterday by the Institute of International and European Affairs, was stark. All the presentations to date to the Joint Committee on Climate Change and Energy Security have been equally stark. We have within our capacity the resources to meet that challenge by maximising our energy potential, by ensuring our energy use is as efficient as possible, by opening up this country to other energy supplies and by moving into a situation where through use of our natural resources of wind and wave we could become an energy exporter.

This Bill will put EirGrid on a proper commercial footing to allow it maximise that opportunity. I hope the company will take the spirit of this Bill in the way it should be taken and not become a form of commercial entity which becomes unresponsive to any body of this House or any democratically-elected institution. I hope EirGrid has learned the lessons from the debate on the interconnector and that it has learned the importance of engagement with communities, with business and with public representatives.

I compliment the Minister and his Department on the spirit in which the Bill has been presented. It is an exciting Bill which will allow us continue the very fine tradition of State enterprises established by this House many generations ago. I hope this generation of representatives can put its stamp on energy supply.

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