Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Some facts need to be re-established. Permission for the plant was granted three years ago, as was the licence to generate. Permission to connect to the national grid has been granted. Funding is in place and vetting has occurred. The CER has been 11 months seeking to devise a pricing mechanism. The Minister of State may choose to hide behind the CER. I do not doubt that he is entitled to do so but I warn him against placing all his trust in this area. In saying so, I am not casting aspersions. We all know the reference I am making.

Let me pose some questions on which the Minister of State might wish to elaborate. Will subsidies continue to be paid to old power plants, some of which are over 30 years old? Will old plants be phased out? Will they be upgraded? If so, will funds be made available for this purpose rather than having the plants subsidised in the manner in which they have been subsidised to date or the manner in which they might continue to be subsidised? In whose interest is the Department acting? What has happened in this instance might serve as a microcosm indicating how big the issue might grow. It is not in the interest of home owners and businesses who are struggling to pay their electricity bills.

I hope the Department is not jeopardising targets for 2020 by failing to ensure that plants such as that in Lumcloon are completed. Will the Minister of State, on behalf of the Government, respond to my constituents who are crying out for jobs such as the ones that could be provided at the plant, bearing in mind that there has been full planning permission for three years, international investors are ready to come on board and connection offers to the electricity grid have been in place for the past 18 months? Why are the financial contracts necessary to allow construction to begin still being denied?

The regulatory system has been in place for the past ten or 12 years. Prices have not decreased. Wind energy policy is stalling if my example is anything to go by. We need a review to determine whether the system is fit for purpose, whether efficiencies are being delivered and whether there is a pricing structure that benefits the consumer.

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