Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail)

Great strides have been made on the western seaboard in terms of renewable energy, where we see the establishment of many wind farms. However, many more farmers have appropriate sites, but they cannot get permission to go ahead with them, some for planning reasons and some because there is no facility to connect them to the national grid. I would like to see this area prioritised. Let us seize the day and get on with the job. Energy consumers are indifferent as to whether their energy comes from wind, wave or elsewhere, but they like to know they are playing a part.

The greener homes scheme has made a good contribution with regard to conserving energy. There are many schemes in existence, but how many people use them? I am one of those guilty of not participating in such schemes. We need to find a way to force the public and people like me to engage in existing schemes that help improve our environment and conserve energy. The power of one campaign is an example of another good campaign.

We all need to become involved in conserving energy and must wake up and educate ourselves on what we need to do to play our part. It always seems to us to be something someone else should do. Everyone else should take the rickshaw, but we should still be able to drive a three litre turbo diesel car. We must engage in a more meaningful way with regard to finding how best we can help to conserve energy. The best way to encourage this is through incentivisation, whether by tax credits or direct grant schemes. This would encourage all, particularly businesses. If it is more financially viable for businesses to engage in conservation practices, we will begin to see a change. This area should be explored. I realise something has been done in this regard in the area of VRT on cars, but we need to expand into other areas. Could we, for instance, provide tax credits to those who move to burning wood pellets or who invest in solar panels? Otherwise, people will be inclined to say everybody else should do it, but they will not.

Some Senators mentioned energy crops. The north west region is conducive to these types of crops and they would serve a useful purpose in making agriculture more viable in the area. We need to focus more on this area. Senator Walsh mentioned he was against nuclear power. I am in two minds about it. I am against nuclear waste, but nuclear power is the cleanest form of energy. We need to have a meaningful debate on the issue to weigh up the pros and cons, albeit if we decide it is definitely not for us.

In terms of dealing with waste that is not recyclable, we need to consider the issues of landfill and incineration. These are not popular issues, but we should debate them and at some stage pick the lesser of two or more evils. We need to be mature and debate issues, rather than be fundamentalist on the approach to take.

Notwithstanding the gas that may be available from the Corrib gas field, whenever that happens, the north west, north of a line from Dublin to Galway and west of Mullingar, does not have the option of natural gas, which is cleaner than oil. We would like that option. Over several Administrations, Ministers have said they are committed to providing it and the extension of the gas national grid to include the region. A number of reports have been prepared by various outlets, including DKM many years ago for Bord Gáis, and I know another was prepared in the past 12 months. Will the Minister of State ask the Minister to check the current situation in that regard? Government subvention will be required, but let us determine the level required and arrange to have it put in place. The people of the north west are entitled to equality of opportunity in terms of energy usage. I am not talking here of Animal Farm type equality, where some people are more equal than others.

I commend the many initiatives under way, but to get to the level of public engagement required to make a difference, we need to focus the minds of our people. Sad as it may seem, to do that we need to have some kind of financial incentive. The reality is that tax credits or some form of reward are required. It may not be pleasant to have to accept that, but it is what we need to do.