Martin Mansergh (Fianna Fail)

I am probably the only Member of the House who was involved in the preparation of the last Green Paper on energy policy, which was produced in 1978 under the aegis of the Department of Industry, Commerce and Energy. Outside Departments had an advisory role. At that stage it was thought that nuclear and coal were the routes to take but subsequent events proved otherwise.

I agree with the Green Paper's exclusion of nuclear energy — on pragmatic economic grounds as much as any others — in that it would not fit the current system. However, we should not treat nuclear power as if it were a moral issue. I have no objections to importing electricity from countries where nuclear power plays a considerable role.

The most immediate issues the public will be concerned about are the steep price rises in gas and electricity, and whether those are justified given the rapid and unexpected rise in the price of oil to approximately $60 a barrel. The Government should review that situation as well as reviewing whether setting these prices annually is at too long an interval. Realistically and pragmatically, the ESB is vital to our future and, moreover, in State ownership. More so than price, security of supply is critical to hi-tech industry. We have seen the disruption caused in the state of California by serious interruptions in power supplies. That is not to say, however, that all competition should be excluded.

I would caution against adopting a gung-ho attitude to wind power, which does have a role to play. We need to be careful about it, however, as other countries are. Our tourism industry, which is hugely valuable economically, depends on our landscape. I would not like to see wind turbines in every other field, as happens, for example, in parts of eastern Germany. Areas of heritage and high amenity where there are human settlements should be avoided for this purpose. Wind energy has a role to play but that role should not be exaggerated. Connection difficulties were referred to in the debate and the fact is that wind power is very unstable. Winds can be strong or weak and there is no method of storing that resource. Even large countries such as Germany, which has invested hugely in wind power, have found their electricity systems in danger of being destabilised simply because of the variability in wind strengths.

While I take Senator Ulick Burke's point that its potential should not be exaggerated, I have a much stronger preference for biomass, which has few downsides. Many groups are currently working on such projects and I would like to see the Government encouraging the development of bio-energy.

A topical issue at present concerns the ongoing protests at Rossport. In the beginning, I had quite a strong sympathy with the particular local community affected. It seemed to me that they had been treated in a fairly careless and haphazard manner, and that the project had not been fully thought through. There comes a point, however, when realism and pragmatism come into play. Changes are going to be made to the project and that fact must be recognised. I do not think it is possible for a small community group to force a multinational to put its plant out to sea——