Results 3,681-3,700 of 11,242 for speaker:Noel Dempsey

Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2006)

Noel Dempsey: I will wind up at this point. CER's gas capacity statement and EirGrid's generation adequacy report project seven and five years into the future respectively. These are more realistic timeframes for us to deal with. There is no basis in reality for business plans that stretch 34 and 44 years into the future. I have been as fair as possible in accepting the spirit of the amendments put...

Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2006)

Noel Dempsey: I move amendment No. 52: In page 18, to delete lines 18 to 28 and substitute the following: "(3) Before giving a direction under subsection (1), the Minister shall— (a) provide a draft of the proposed direction to— (i) the Commission, (ii) the Joint Committee referred to in paragraph 26 of Schedule 1 of this Act, and (iii) any other person the Minister deems appropriate, inviting them, in...

Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2006)

Noel Dempsey: I move amendment No. 55: In page 18, to delete lines 33 to 40 and substitute the following: "(5) Where, in the opinion of the Minister, a direction which the Minister proposes to give to the Commission under subsection (1) relates or may relate to the functions of another Minister of the Government, the Minister shall consult with that Minister of the Government prior to the carrying out of...

Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2006)

Noel Dempsey: They are all related.

Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2006)

Noel Dempsey: Amendment No. 57 is not accepted because it is not required. EirGrid is defined in Statutory Instrument 445 of 2000 and it does not require to be further clarified in this Bill. It is the transmission system operator. The Deputy's amendment, like the other amendments, may be designed to make EirGrid the owner of the transmission system. If I was starting out to design an electricity or a...

Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2006)

Noel Dempsey: ——through their ESOT or something else. If people do not have that in their mind, they should not have any difficulty whatsoever about seeing the transmission wires go to semi-State companies completely devoted to a transmission system operation. There is no reason they should have any objection. It is very difficult to understand the kind of fixation some people seem to have about...

Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2006)

Noel Dempsey: ——of all of the people who are the consumers and in the interests of competitiveness. However, we have what we have. I am quite satisfied that EirGrid as an organisation will act and control the transmission system in an independent fashion. They will do this in the best interests of the public and consumers and in the best interests of the economy and competitiveness. It is important...

Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2006)

Noel Dempsey: ——and minding what they have. For many years various Ministers with responsibility for ESB and for power, decided not to sanction any increases in electricity prices to the ESB. We are now paying the price for this policy and must spend €8 billion to €10 billion to renew the whole system. The other amendments are not accepted. They appear to have the objective of allowing EirGrid to...

Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2006)

Noel Dempsey: A number of points have been raised that are similar to those raised in the first round of contributions on this aspect of the Bill and I will try to deal with them again. EirGrid is vested, established and will own the east-west interconnector due to be completed not later than 2012. It is important that we made this start in the area. Everyone in the House accepts EirGrid will act...

Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2006)

Noel Dempsey: The Labour Party has done several things at different times that it might not repeat. We have the benefit of being able to learn from things that have happened.

Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2006)

Noel Dempsey: I agree with Deputy Ryan that it is a bit much to complain about energy prices and fuel poverty in one breath while in the next breath saying "not an inch", "no change" and arguing that the ESB must be kept as a vertically integrated unit, with no competition in the market.

Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2006)

Noel Dempsey: I suggest the Deputy does not know——

Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2006)

Noel Dempsey: I have them here.

Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2006)

Noel Dempsey: The other side of the business is a natural monopoly and national asset.

Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2006)

Noel Dempsey: The transmission side is a national asset and should be under the control and ownership of the company established for this purpose, namely, EirGrid.

Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2006)

Noel Dempsey: That is where the company should be but I did not say I would move it there. The Deputy is basically saying he will cry for consumers and those being hit by high electricity prices but we should not ask him to upset members of the trade unions in the ESB by asking them to shift a little ground and allow the competitive market we need to come about. As Deputy Eamon Ryan noted, a competitive...

Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2006)

Noel Dempsey: I am not accepting the amendments because providing that the Minister sanction a decision of the CER and granting the authorisations being spoken about would undermine the statutory independence of the CER. The existing provisions for CER to grant an authorisation to construct a power station, consent to construct a natural gas pipeline or license an energy undertaking do not require any...

Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2006)

Noel Dempsey: Three or four years ago, CER tried to get the market to provide an interconnector but was not successful as there was no interest shown. People wanted to go down the route of getting an interconnector with a regulated rate of return as they were not going to operate on a market basis. Had the interconnector been absolutely essential, it would have been useful for CER to have been in a...

Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2006)

Noel Dempsey: I remember that winter well.

Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006: Report Stage (Resumed) (15 Nov 2006)

Noel Dempsey: I spent my five years in the Department of the Environment and Local Government. Every time I visited a local authority they wanted to tell me how poorly off and cash-strapped they were. They would produce the books to prove this to me and refer to the loss of rates and other sources of income. In the middle of it would be "snow money", the money that the then Tánaiste, Michael O'Leary,...