Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael)

Ár dtús, ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh an Aire Stáit. As I said on Second Stage, I welcome this amending legislation and I accept the principle and the practice that Bord Gáis should be fit to borrow more money, implement its corporate plan and expand its business. Before I make my remarks about control, we have no reason but to have absolute confidence in the management and staff of Bord Gáis and there is nothing to impugn their integrity or their actions.

I welcome the fact the Minister and the Department will have ultimate control and sanction over the spending of the money. I wish to make a broader point. I refer to the early history of the State and this aspect might be worthy of study. We are still quite a young State. The first couple of Governments of this State had a very hands-on approach to the management of the public finances. Every Minister was hands-on and implemented their executive authority. They had a sense of their own executive authority, a sense they were to act in the public good and a sense they were there to control, structure and implement. This is very visible in the history of both Administrations at the beginning, the initial Cumann na nGaedheal Administration followed by the Fianna Fáil Administration. This was a feature of the founding ages of our State. I know government and society has become more complex but we are still fundamentally the same State and same people. We now have a culture of no control and a culture where control has effectively gone outside the door. The regulator took it very easy with the banking sector — far too easy. I will make a political point. The Government has not acted in a sufficiently executive manner and has not been sufficiently hands-on in its approach. It is a Minister's responsibility to know where all the moneys are spent in the Department. In a country of this size it should not be beyond the competence of an effective Minister and his junior Minister to have a handle on how moneys are spent, where they are going and where there is a wastage of money. To this extent I am happy there is a system of control but it is important that this control is implemented across the board. There is no more glaring omission of regulation in the State. It is a huge indictment of the Government. The Government must stand condemned in its failure to do anything effective to control energy costs. If one was to chronicle the Government's failures, this would rank high on the list. The price increases for Bord Gáis Éireann and the ESB were given at a time when oil cost €140 a barrel. Now oil prices are approximately €40 a barrel. It is untenable, unsupportable and unacceptable that energy prices have not fallen dramatically months ago.

Yesterday, the managing director of a major chicken processing factory in Cavan told me his plant's annual energy bill is approximately €1.25 million. The regulator should have been insisting on the reduction of energy prices for some time. I hope there will be a hands-on approach by the Government to this. The country needs hands-on government. What is the point of a democracy otherwise? Will the Minister of State explain to Bord Gáis Éireann and the ESB that their prices are way out of line for consumers?

I accept worthy corporate objectives have been set down but none of them justifies current energy prices. The energy regulator introduced a red herring when he said the ESB purchased six months of oil supplies at high prices earlier last year, hence there could be no reduction. That is a fallacy. It has always had the policy to have a back stock of oil. Surely when oil prices dropped, its next six-month supply came in at the same lower price.

We need control of energy prices. If we are to facilitate this amending legislation, we need to know the Minister's good faith in price control. We could not, as a democratic assembly of the people, accept this amending legislation on any other terms. Raging energy prices are a huge disincentive to business and industry and cause fuel poverty among our old people. It is time for action on energy prices.

I am enthusiastic about supporting the amending legislation because it will provide for committing Bord Gáis Éireann to develop renewable energy sources. It recently purchased a substantial wind farm for €80 million and will continue to develop wind energy. It is also good Bord Gáis Éireann is entering the electricity generation market and will become a competitor of the ESB. I take the point made by my friend, Senator Walsh, that it will help to bring down prices. That, and timely and necessary Government intervention, will bring down prices.

It is important Bord Gáis Éireann purchases more wind farms and links up with farmers who have developed co-operative wind farms. The creamery co-operative model initiated by Horace Plunkett did wonders for Ireland. I accept there are problems with current milk prices and our co-operatives have gone off the rails by becoming plcs. That, however, is for a different debate. The co-operative movement was excellent for Ireland and pulled us up by the shoe laces, making us what we are today. The co-operative principle should be brought to alternative energy projects. Farmers should be brought together to form wind farms as a mutual investment for a co-operative energy supply for the national grid. We also have yet to exploit wave energy.

On Second Stage I raised Bord Gáis Éireann's investment in gas storage facilities. This is important in ensuring security of supply, particularly when one observes what recently happened between the Ukraine and Russia. Security of supply is no longer assured. I accept the Russia-Ukraine stand-off does not directly affect Ireland's supply. However, it was a timely warning and it is important we work on security of supply. However, if we had a good and properly developed renewables sector, it would ensure an indigenous supply of domestic energy. The commitment to storage is a welcome facet of Bord Gáis Éireann's corporate plan and a further reason to be confident about giving it the latitude to increase its borrowing limits to €3 billion.

Bord Gáis Éireann's track record to date has been good. However, it is necessary for it to extend the network to the last remaining 12 counties. This comes back to control and regulation. There will have to be a hands-on approach to these matters. The Minister of State should be knocking heads together, demanding the network is extended to the remaining 12 counties. The Oireachtas has made recommendations and approved amendments to the gas Acts to allow extra borrowing. This should, therefore, be linked to the importance of extending gas supply to the 12 countries that still do not have access to it.

Prices must be slashed. There is no reason there cannot be a 20% reduction for the consumer. There is no reason the Minister cannot bring in the ESB and Bord Gáis Éireann to get results on this. The House is giving unanimous support to the Bill. The Minister of State must say, bona fide, he will act on energy prices. We must also act on developing the renewable energy sector. Renewables have merits in reducing CO2 emissions and saving us from Kyoto fines. It would also help in boosting the construction industry. Building wind turbines would constitute a large construction project which would provide much employment. We must act on the green energy agenda now. The time for platitudes and aspirations on this is over.

Security of energy supply is important and we should reaffirm Bord Gáis Éireann's commitment to invest in storage facilities. Fine Gael will support this amending legislation, as it did in the Dáil. It gives an endorsement and latitude to a company to implement what I believe is a good corporate plan. All we need are assurances from the Minister of State that he will be the people's champion in getting stuck into ensuring targeted price reductions are made. These individuals are ultimately answerable to taxpayers and the Oireachtas. We may have gone too far with deregulation, in that there is a lack of control, and with the laissez-faire approach to Government. We must call a halt in this regard because matters have become too serious.