Paul Bradford (Fine Gael)

I am glad to have an opportunity to say a few words on this important legislation. I listened with interest to the Minister's contribution and the subsequent contributions of colleagues on all sides of the House. The Bill, which has been strongly welcomed in general, will continue to be necessary as we make further progress in the interests of securing our energy supply.

It is interesting that we are debating electricity supply and distribution, in the context of our co-operation with other countries, a week or two after the great debate on the Lisbon treaty referendum. It is possible that interconnectors will mean that we get electricity not just from the United Kingdom but also from continental Europe. The debate on the possibility of connecting our electricity system with that of other countries is an indication of our interdependence with our neighbours in the UK and elsewhere in Europe, regardless of our decision on the Lisbon treaty. We must all work together on issues such as energy supply and climate change if we are to make progress.

I welcome the provisions of this legislation. I am pleased that powers will be devolved to EirGrid to allow it to make progress with the system of electricity supply. A limited degree of progress has been made with the North-South system. We are now providing for similar progress to be made with the east-west scheme. The general political consensus in this House in that respect is the sooner, the better.

It is obvious that security of electricity supply is of significant importance to the economy of this island. If we are to preserve and expand economic activity, we will need to have a reliable, consistent and guaranteed source of electricity. There have been a number of stories. Senator McFadden spoke about the most recent threat to our electricity supply. We have to recognise that our electricity supplies have been threatened over the past five or six years, during which time there has been an enormous increase in this country's economic activity. The electricity blackouts of the 1970s resulted from the oil crisis and the lack of generating capacity. It was a question of supply rather than demand. In recent times the threat of electricity blackouts has stemmed from the great physical demand for electricity in this country. It is a good thing that there is such demand but it is worrying that on a few occasions, apparently, we almost reached the point of having the lights literally go out, if I may be excused the pun. Having the interconnector up and running and providing a consistent and constant supply is good for industry and for the country.

This debate is welcome. I support the proposals and acknowledge that the ongoing need for energy security and supply must be addressed but we must also try to keep attention focused on the other side of the equation — energy conservation. That is never as popular a subject for debate as are energy generation or regeneration from renewables, nor does it get the same attention. We could do much more about energy conservation across every institution in this State. We need only look at the 25 light bulbs burning in this Chamber, presumably none being of the modern energy-saving nature. In every house and office much more progress could be made in the area of energy conservation. That needs further attention from the Minister and from the Government because it is a big part of the equation in respect of long-term energy supply. I ask the Minister to address this matter in the future by way of legislation or regulation. We need strong rules regarding saving of energy in so far as it can be done domestically, commercially and in industry.

The Bill mentions the interconnector and I support the concept. The fact that we are now to import energy from the United Kingdom and possibly thereafter from Europe brings to the fore the question of electricity generated by nuclear power. A number of my colleagues mentioned this point. It is good that we have reached the stage of maturity in this country that we can have a sensible debate on nuclear power. Perhaps we tiptoe towards it but the country has changed greatly and so has technology. Our economy and society have changed since the great debate, or non-debate, about Carnsore Point in Senator Walsh's county back in 1977 or thereabouts.