Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)

I seek the view of the Leader of the House as to whether it was a clear breach of the ministerial code. That is my question and I would be interested to hear the Leader's reply.

On a second matter, Senator Quinn had the courage some weeks ago to raise the controversial issue of nuclear energy in this country. He was shot down by some Senators on both sides of the House but the point he raised is important.

The Government has given a clear commitment that we should have an interconnector between Britain and Ireland as a means of supplementing our energy sources in the future. However, if and when that interconnector is in place, as I understand it the Government has yet to decide whether it would accept energy from the United Kingdom, 25% of which is derived from nuclear power.

We now have a typical Irish solution to an Irish problem. We do not want nuclear energy. We rightly believe it to be dirty but we are prepared to accept nuclear energy from another country once it supplements our energy supply and we are prepared to link into a European grid, 70% of which is powered by nuclear energy.

If we are honest about this issue, the point Senator Quinn raised is central to this debate. If we are in favour of the interconnector, that is fine, but part and parcel of that is accepting energy, 25% of which could be derived from nuclear technology. We must get our thinking straight on this issue. I want people to go on the record in regard to it. There is an opportunity for a significant debate with the Minister with responsibility for energy on the question of an interconnector to determine the exact position of the Government on the question of nuclear energy.