Larry Butler (Fianna Fail)

I wish to stay away as much as possible from my colleague's contribution. We must consider the new sustainable energy available in the country which is vital. I refer also to the smart economy document because it was not sufficiently publicised or talked about in the media but it is probably the most important document since Seán Lemass's contribution to the country.

I recognise Senator O'Reilly is very interested in the renewable energy sector. While he was working on other campaigns we invited the Spirit of Ireland to an all-party meeting. I have provided some information to the Minister of State which will form a very important part of the prospects of our economy in future. We could create a whole new industry based on our energy resources and we could make ourselves totally self-sufficient in energy.

The west was often seen as a place where one would not normally invest but it is now key to ensuring we have an independent supply of energy, an indication of how important it has become. It will be our saviour because with new technology we can produce energy from there, thanks to the good offices of the people of the Spirit of Ireland. If there was no downturn in our economy such people would not have come together. They work on a voluntary basis. An organisation in Shannon has offered it a premises to use as a headquarters which is fantastic. It is very much in touch with the future and I believe such bodies represent the future.

We are examining what we can do for ourselves in the next five years. If within the next five years we have four stations on the west coast we could be self-sufficient in electricity supply. Wind energy is an important source but the problem is that it is intermittent and we have not been able to store wind energy because the technology has not been available heretofore. These people have explained how this can be done. A hydro system is used which is similar to Turlough Hill. If Turlough Hill were to be reconstructed, it would cost an absolute fortune. Ireland is only one of six countries in the world which can undertake such a project and this is because of the geology of the land. Ireland's land has three main sides to it. We need to build a front and it would entail only the cost of building the front which can be flooded from the sea. We have the water to do it and we can plug into the existing system of wind energy. Two lakes will be formed and water will be pushed up into the higher lake when the wind is blowing and the energy is then stored to ensure supply when needed. This is new technology. This can be done but politicians will have to support it. Legislation will be required to be changed and it can be changed in this House. The group will come back to give a full update to an all-party meeting in September. A complete check will have been carried out with all the local authorities along the west coast to ensure that the draft development plans are in line with what they are looking for. We should create a permit system for them. It is in the national interest to have independent power. We could be an exporting country within five years. This shows the importance of this project.

I wish to speak on the subject of education as it is connected to this technology document. Ireland is a very good English-speaking country with highly skilled teachers who provide very good education. We are not exploiting this resource to the full. Ireland earns about €800 million through the teaching of English but a similar country, New Zealand, earns €4 billion. Our nearest neighbour earns €7 billion by teaching and upskilling people in the English language. This is a huge opportunity for us and one wonders what we are doing wrong. We would need to relax our visa system. There are many fields of expertise in which Ireland could become a leader but we need to have foresight. We need to tie in this new energy system into the smart economy and push our new English teaching system into that smart economy. If we do that, we will be on the right tracks and we will recover quickly.