Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We all know that we are just short of 70 days away from Brexit. It is to be hoped that it will not happen with a big crash-out. I believe that is the hope of everybody in this House and of the people at large. My question relates to energy supplies in the event of Brexit happening. I first raised this issue as far back as three years ago and I have raised it a number of times since including during an exchange with the Minister's predecessor, Deputy Naughten, on 9 May 2017 to which I will refer in a minute. The issues relate to the supply of gas, electricity and oil. For better or worse, at the present time we depend on these supplies for our energy. Large amounts of them come through Britain. I will deal with them one by one.

Some 55% of our gas supply comes through the island of Britain - England, Scotland and Wales. We have an all-Ireland single electricity market, which is very important. Important work has been done on that. Some 40% of the State's oil reserves are also held outside the State - 20% in England, 11% in Scotland, and 9% in the Six Counties which are still occupied by England, Scotland and Wales. This 9% is held close to Derry. Some 55% of our natural gas comes from Britain. If that is interrupted or stopped, perhaps in an emergency scenario, we would be in a serious situation in respect of the supply of domestic home heating gas but also in respect of power generating plants. If it was cut off or if there were interruptions in the event of a no-deal Brexit is there a possibility of World Trade Organization tariffs applying to this gas? Will we have higher gas bills in nine weeks' time? This would also affect electricity bills because the gas is used to generate electricity. We must bear in mind that we already have the fourth highest electricity prices in the European Union. What provisions are being made for those two scenarios?

With regard to electricity, we have a 32-county electricity market which has been functioning very well since 2007, although there is other infrastructural work to be done in that area. Can we guarantee that, in the event of a no-deal Brexit, there will be no tariffs applied to cross-Border electricity? The new all-Ireland integrated single electricity market, ISEM, design which started in October was meant to save householders and businesses up to €200 million. What will happen in that regard? We also have an electricity interconnector with Britain which goes directly across the Irish Sea. Will tariffs be applied to electricity coming through that interconnector in nine weeks' time?

With regard to oil reserves, earlier I referred to the fact that 40% of the State's oil reserves are held between the North of Ireland and Britain. Under EU rules, this will not be counted towards our EU obligations after Brexit. What discussions has the Minister and his Government had regarding what will happen to those oil reserves in nine weeks' time? Under EU rules we are required to have a nine weeks' supply as a minimum. As a member of the European Union we must continue to have that reserve, but not only for that reason.

We need those nine weeks of supply to be sure that we will have enough energy to keep the wheels turning on this island, for industry and transport and all of the other areas where it is used.

In reply to a question in May 2017 the Minister said that the State was refurbishing facilities at Poolbeg in Dublin and Great Island in County Wexford. Are they finished and ready? Can the State now cater for the level of oil reserves that are required to get us over the minimum nine-week period?

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