Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I raise the issue of the Minister, Deputy Ryan. It does not relate to his double, strange PCR tests. We know we are dealing with a Covid crisis and, potentially, a Brexit Article 16 crisis. However, if the Taoiseach and his Government colleagues cannot keep the lights on or the houses warm this winter nor plan for industry and inward investment, that is the rock on which they will perish. I have serious concerns about this, which I have repeatedly raised. We are facing a perfect storm in energy supply. More than a decade ago, bad, horrendous politics and a lack of regulation in banking destroyed this country.

I have a deep concern, and I do not say this lightly, about how our energy market has been regulated over the last number of years. I would like the Taoiseach to listen to this and I would like him to look into it.

Information given to my colleague, Deputy Seán Sherlock, shows there were seven amber alerts on 28 October. In September, I asked the Taoiseach if he would guarantee he could keep the lights on. He could not answer that question. Two months later I ask him the same question. There are a number of issues he needs to be concerned about.

Under direction from the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, in May, EirGrid put out a call for 200 MW of emergency power. That will cost €110 million. The plan was for these emergency gas operators to be in place for 22 weeks. The contract was awarded to ESB, but EirGrid messed up the tender. Another company, Tynagh Energy threatened to go to the High Court, claiming that the procurement process run by EirGrid was anti-competitive, so the plan was abandoned. This whole process was raised in the Dáil by the Taoiseach’s Member, last week, Deputy Barry Cowan. I want to acknowledge that he raised the process. There are serious issues here. The Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth, who responded to Deputy Cowan last week had not a clue, basically. We need to find out more information about how €10 million was paid by EirGrid to ESB as a down payment for these emergency generators. How did this happen? Was it sanctioned by the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan? Where is the money now?

We also understand another tender is now being run for the same power. This is on top of the issues raised by Mick Clifford the Irish Examinerregarding Equinor calling out of offshore wind generation. It is on top of the fact that the marine area planning Bill that is so delayed; the fact that we cannot get solar farms onto the grid; we have not made progress on microgeneration; and new technologies, such as the Silvermines hydroelectric plant in my constituency, has not proceeded.

I want to ask the Taoiseach these questions. Will he now, two months later, guarantee that we will not have any outages of power over this winter? Can he confirm details about the €10 million paid to the ESB by EirGrid for a contract that was then pulled? When was it paid and has the money being refunded?

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