Larry Butler (Fianna Fail)

I raise the issue of energy, which I raised before. We all welcome the fact that the price of domestic energy has decreased somewhat, but no allowance is offered by energy suppliers to those in the commercial sector. The Leader spoke about this in the House regularly and raised it at meetings of the parliamentary party. In view of the fact that oil prices are increasing steadily, we must consider the alternative energy solutions available to us. The Spirit of Ireland group made a submission recently in this regard. I went to the trouble of inviting an all-party group to a presentation in the audiovisual room, to be held next Wednesday. This will be a great opportunity for the delegation to expand on what is a great idea. If taken on board, we can become energy independent over the next five to ten years. It is important that we play a major role in this regard. The meeting will present an opportunity to this House to make its mark in terms of putting Ireland on the map as an energy exporting country. I hope there will be full attendance at the presentation and that very good contributions will be made. The delegates are not asking for one penny from the State as their project can be funded from an alternative source of capital. This is a very important issue. It would lift us out of the depression in which we are at present to hear the proposal of a company that is prepared to do a job for the country.