Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am glad the Minister, Deputy Ryan, is here. I will read from a small bit from the speech delivered by the Minister of State, Deputy Smyth. First, he told the Dáil he would discuss the generation capacity shortfall that exists. Welcome to the real world. Second, he said, "I will reaffirm the urgency of this Bill in order to enable delivery of emergency capacity to maintain a secure electricity supply for customers". My goodness, what a mouthful. Wakey, wakey. Is this Alice in Wonderland? Did the Minister finally wake up? My goodness.

We were told by EirGrid two years ago that there were going to be power cuts. Then, the Minister went on with his folly of closing down Lanesborough and many other peat stations. That caused havoc in the midlands. The Minister talks about just transition. It was the most unjust transition I ever heard of in my life. We are now spending money as if it were snuff at a wake. We are spending hundreds of millions to buy aircraft engines to run emergency generators. Did you ever in all your days hear the like of it? I know people who bought generators a long time ago because they knew where the Minister was going by bringing them down a cul-de-sac. Householders and businesspeople went to a lot of expense. In fact, a person could not get a generator now if he or she wanted it. The Minister is going to do this now but what is he going to run them on? Will he run them on air or petrol? What about altar boys' wine? The Minister is going to run them on fossil fuels. Imagine that: the fossil fuels he has such hatred towards. The sooner the Minister is removed from this position, the better. The people will have their say. The Taoiseach and Tánaiste will not say anything because they have cobbled up the Government. The people will ultimately have their say, however, and I hope it will not be too long.

I will ask the Minister again. I have already asked him twice. We metMag Mell Energy today in the audiovisual room, which gave a briefing for anybody who wanted to come. Did any of the Minister's party come? Not at all. They knew their questions would be answered by experts who knew the facts. They did not have to refer to a notebook or mobile telephone to look at this and tell the Minister the folly.

The Kinsale gas pipeline is lying empty in perfect condition off the Acting Chairman's county. The proposal under the closing down of the pipeline involves a situation where concrete must be poured into the pipe to render it useless. I want the Minister to answer this question. Is he going to go ahead with that act of vandalism, State terrorism and national sabotage? Is he going to allow that to happen? I want him to answer that tonight above anything else. Will he please answer that? Will he get ready-mix concrete and pour it into that pipeline? He could not possibly do this because if he did, the men in white coats would be here.

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