Joe O'Toole (Independent)

Senator John Paul Phelan referred to a conversation we had previously. I took as an example the case of County Mayo. It is my belief that County Mayo, properly organised and harnessed, could be supplying Ireland with a substantial amount of its energy needs in a very short time indeed. First and foremost we need to get the Corrib oil on shore. This demands and requires political leadership. There has been too much shilly-shallying about this. We have gone through the process. Whether I like it or dislike it, this is a democracy. We set up a structure and put in place the obstacles and put it through the systems. We demanded all the health and safety requirements and they have met all those requirements. Whether I like it or not, that is the end of the matter and we should now decide to get the oil on shore. Anyone looking at Ireland's energy requirements and considering that Kinsale will be going off-line within 18 months, knows that we have to do this. We should be courageous and tell people that this is the action required and the patriotic action is to bring it ashore. The position of any supposedly left-wing person in this country should be in support of it, not to mention anybody on the business end of the Labour spectrum who will, I am sure, share that view.

I wish to make a slight correction to the point made by Senator John Paul Phelan. I was in fact referring to wave energy rather than tidal energy when I said off the north-west Mayo coast is the most energy-rich wave source in Europe. The average wave height is an unbelievable 2.5 m for the whole year. There is no place else in Europe with such waves. There are people down there tearing their hair out because they are not getting the kind of support they need. It requires three or four pieces of legislation to be revisited and changed rapidly so that licences can be issued.

The Joint Committee on Climate Change and Energy Security has made proposals which the Government should take and run with. There is not a proper quantum of research and development on this issue happening in our universities. Wave energy is being developed very successfully in University College Cork and to a lesser extent in two other places. I plead with the Government. I know the Minister of State's views on these issues. I plead with him to set up a bursary in a number of universities on this island for doctorate-level research on the development of wave energy. We are close to leading the world on this but Scotland is marginally ahead of us at the moment. We could be a world leader.

The second issue is that of tidal energy. There are places on the west coast such as Bull's Mouth, Achill Sound and the Shannon Estuary and the Blaskets Sound where there is a tidal current of four to five knots. It can also be done down by Wexford and along by north Antrim and off Arklow. Wind off the west coast is an extraordinary resource. There is currently a proposal to establish a wind farm of 5,000 MW in Mayo. These are issues which can be moved forward.

I have spoken many times in this House about the lack of broadband which is crucial to development and which is mentioned in this Fine Gael document. Does the Minister of State realise that the Bord Gáis pipeline going from County Galway to north Mayo carries alongside it a conduit for fibre optic which could convey broadband to every town in the west? The only reason it is not filled with that fibre optic is because there is a piece of regulatory legislation which does not allow it to be carried. Such a situation brings the country into disrepute. I compliment Fine Gael's proposals about the relationship between storage and the electric car and wind energy. Three or four pieces of legislation need to be unblocked and small amounts of money invested. Fine Gael is correct when it states there are many positive actions which can be taken.