Martin Brady (Fianna Fail)

I welcome both the Minister of State, Deputy Seán Power, and the Bill. While I agree with the Bill's contents, like my colleague, Senator Joe O'Toole, I have some reservations regarding EirGrid and the ESB per se in the future. Although the Minister indicated earlier there would be no question of privatisation, Members have heard that previously in respect of Telecom Éireann, which is about to gain its fourth owner within the space of a few years. The result has been that customers have received poorer services at increased costs and a considerable number of staff were shed. I am fearful in this regard because as Senator O'Toole noted, when the going gets rough, the easiest thing to do is to sell off the family silver, forget about it and to allow someone else mind the shop. This is one of my main concerns.

Some of the principal benefits of the interconnection include the enhanced security of supply. I believe significant capacity is available in the generating market in the United Kingdom to provide security of supply through the interconnector for Ireland. In addition, the United Kingdom is developing interconnectors with mainland Europe to further contribute to security of supply and market integration.

Senator O'Malley raised the question of prices, increases to the customer and so on and this is a matter about which Members must be highly vigilant. One should put the customer first but there is little if any mention of the customer per se in this Bill. As for customers, the people in counties Cavan and Monaghan and elsewhere in that region who are complaining should be listened to. I concur with previous speakers that they should be listened to because they are customers who believe their livelihoods, in respect of milk supplies from cattle and other animals, will be affected by this issue. If this is the case, they should be facilitated in some way.

While I am not love bombing Senator O'Toole, he mentioned other sources of energy in the House, one of which is water. Years ago mills operated in abundance throughout the country but in the northern part in particular, including counties Cavan, Monaghan and Armagh, which kept going factories, tanneries and mills. This type of energy is available and is ready to go and consideration definitely should be given to harnessing it.

I refer to the long-term sustainability of EirGrid, which is a semi-State company. As Senators O'Toole and Quinn have noted, unless one invests in the infrastructure, customers will receive a poorer service. This happened in other companies, such as Eircom, where the infrastructure has been stripped down and no investment has taken place. Members must be vigilant in this regard. While one could delve into many more aspects of this Bill, in general I welcome it.