Michael Finucane (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Bill. It gives enhanced tasks to the regulator and there is a strong emphasis on safety with regard to electrical and gas installations. That is important. However, the Bill does not do much more than that. It is surprising that these housekeeping matters for the regulator have not been attended to long before now.

Energy has become an extremely important matter for many people. The issue is discussed far and wide. I am a member of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Communications, Marine and Natural Resources. The committee has put great focus on the energy issue and, in that context, many of the players involved in the energy market have attended committee meetings. The committee produced a report on energy and the Minister subsequently produced the Green Paper on energy. I was disappointed that in composing our report the committee did not have access to a definitive report compiled by Deloitte & Touche at a cost of €1.2 million in taxpayers' money. That report would have been of interest to the committee members and would have assisted us in framing our conclusions. The Minister's report, although it was welcome after so many years, did not contain a great deal.

Deregulation and liberalisation of the market have meant nothing to the domestic consumer aside from escalating increases in the cost of electricity. People who study their electricity bills will notice the dramatic increase in recent times. I presume that next week the Minister will be applauding a worthwhile increase in social welfare for pensioners. While some pensioners are eligible for the free fuel allowance, which goes some way towards the overall cost of energy, there are many pensioners who have a small extra pension income and are ineligible for the allowance.

Recently the Taoiseach said the number of units would be increased for pensioners. However, as a result of escalating energy costs, many older people go to their local shopping centres and stay there for a period of time simply to keep themselves warm and to avoid using valuable resources to keep themselves warm in their homes. Next week, when Ministers applaud themselves because the threshold of €200 per week will probably be reached in the social welfare payment, they should examine the escalating costs for the people who are paid that pension.

The committee recently met with people representing a large group of industries. These industries are heavy users of electricity. The representatives made the point that escalating energy costs were a large element in the overall costs of those companies. They said that if costs continued in that direction in the future, it was questionable whether some of them would continue to operate in Ireland. The situation is that serious. Those industries might have the benefit, to some degree, of an alternative electricity supplier to the ESB but they have only one supplier of gas. We should not rest on our laurels in this regard because the signs are very serious.

Our economy is sustained by the artificial base of the construction industry, which is a very volatile sector. Compare construction activity with what is happening to our manufacturing industries. In the past five years approximately 30,000 jobs have been lost in manufacturing. I am concerned about the future cost of electricity, gas and energy generally. In many cases it could be the defining reason for companies deciding to leave this country. In that context, if we start to lose industry on that basis, what is happening in the construction industry might result in a false situation for our economy.

Many people see the regulator as virtually a lackey of the energy companies. That is probably unfair. He has a difficult job. Some years ago, when I was a Member of the other House, the final responsibility for increases rested with the Minister. There would be a hue and cry over the increase and the Minister was often forced to capitulate to it and depress the overall increase. The regulator, however, assesses the situation a year in advance and makes his projections. He has already projected a 19% increase in electricity prices from 1 January next year. Having read recent newspaper reports, people are hopeful that he will re-examine this on the basis that the cost of oil per barrel has dropped since then. It is now anticipated that he might reduce that increase by 5%. However, even if he does that, it is still an overall increase of 14%.

In the past five years, the price of electricity for the consumer has increased by 61%. That is a shocking amount. We do not have an alternative to using electricity. Many people, especially older people and people on social welfare, are finding it extremely difficult to pay their bills.

Up to 90% of our energy is produced from fossil fuels. I often wonder if we waited too long to become involved in the alternative energy market. This country is extremely suitable for wind energy projects, but there has been a series of delays with these projects. It is a stop-go type of situation. The regulator held off for a period of years, there are impediments in the planning process and now there are delays in these projects getting connected to the grid. If one decides to operate a wind energy project in this country and one has a suitable location, there will be a long gestation process in getting the turbines into operation.

Given our lack of choice due to our dependency on fossil fuels, it is interesting that we have not embraced alternative energy. We give lip service to the concept and it is a popular mantra to say we are considering alternative energy but the reality is that little has happened in the past few years. Recently, Deputy Eamon Ryan and I visited Denmark for two days to see its success in using alternative energy. It is significant that in Denmark, 21% of electricity is generated from wind energy. Denmark embraced the concept because it believed its terrain, particularly in Jutland, suited these projects and because encouragement was given at national level. Now, however, the Danes do not necessarily want wind energy projects located on the land because of the effect on the landscape. They have now successfully established several offshore projects. Denmark, by virtue of its location, has the option of importing electricity from Germany or from hydropower generators in Norway and Sweden. Despite this freedom of choice in terms of shopping around to find the best possible price, it has embraced the concept of wind energy.

We do not have Denmark's freedom of choice. For many years, a monopoly was maintained by the ESB, although we would all acknowledge that company's successes. We have been encouraged to liberalise the energy market within a European context but the extent of such liberalisation has been limited. While industrial consumers may have some choice, the domestic consumer has none. Deregulation and liberalisation have meant nothing to domestic consumers.

Our nearest neighbours in Scotland have had tremendous success in terms of alternative energy. The terrain in that country is similar to ours, which leads me to believe we have been somewhat backward in that regard. Too often, I have seen impediments to success rather than encouragement for innovation.

The United States — the home of oil — is embracing alternative energy. In Iowa, Idaho and elsewhere, wind turbines are widespread. Special concessions are offered for biofuels, with the result that processing plants are being established throughout the country. In Ireland, while one welcomed the recent approval of certain measures on biofuels, this has been too little, too late. Procrastination, which Shakespeare said is the thief of time, describes this Government's policies in the area of energy.