Larry Butler (Independent)

Senator Bradford is right in saying it takes a long time to get things done in this country. Projects in the national interest must be expedited in the future. This is one of the projects which must be expedited.

I am disappointed energy does not form part of the four year national recovery plan. It should have been at the top of the agenda. In a ten-year period we could save €60 billion in imports alone. That is hard cash, not to talk about exports and Ireland being energy sufficient. There are colossal sums involved and it puts the borrowing in the shade.

We have a company called the Spirit of Ireland. We can build all the windmills we like around the country, but if we do not have a plan to store the electricity that comes from wind generation, we are just wasting our time. We are getting about 30% of our energy from wind into the grid which can only take so much at any given time. One of these storage facilities would provide us with 30 days supply, which is colossal. I recently spoke to a number of the directors of Spirt of Ireland who have come up with a co-operative plan in this regard. This would require every county in the country to produce a draft development plan to include energy. While many counties have done this, others have not, some perhaps because they are inland counties and do not believe they have any future in energy. That company's figures on the cost of providing a local energy project in a town with a population of 2,000 people is approximately €2 million. This would involve having five wind generators feeding into the grid, providing the grid could take it. We have much work to do in terms of upgrading our grid to take this energy. Any energy which it is not possible for the grid to take could be put into storage for later use or export. This sector is very important in terms of getting the country back on track and ensuring we have stability in energy and income derived therefrom. There will be a huge deficit of energy in the European Community between 2015 and 2020. We now have an opportunity to catch up on development in this area.

Spirt of Ireland is interested in assisting us in providing the first project in this country, at a cost of approximately €3.5 billion. While this is a huge amount it is only one eighth of what it would cost to build a nuclear station. This project makes great sense. I am not comparing what we are talking about here with nuclear energy because I do not believe we should get involved in nuclear projects. We have a natural energy base which we must exploit. If we do so, we will be self-sufficient and will be able to ensure a regular supply to the European Union. It is important we do this. While this project is being proposed by Spirt of Ireland, there is room for everyone to get involved, including co-operatives in small towns. We must ensure our grids are upgraded to take any excess supply. Our grids are not capable of doing this currently.

I am not sure whether local authorities have geared themselves up to looking at smaller projects in small towns. I come from a small town called Graiguenamanagh. Despite that a river runs through the area, no effort is being made to harness its power. I recall when two small companies in the town, Barrow Starch Works and Murphys, and some milling companies such as Odlums took all their electrical power from the river. We do not appear to value the local power available to us. We must look at how this power can be harnessed, thus ensuring a backup supply for every town. The old turbine in the area, which has not been used for many years, used to provide power for a whole factory in which 50 or 60 people were employed. That factory did not have to depend on the ESB for supply. It was in existence long before the ESB. I understand that power was also harnessed from the river in Carlow. These were probably among the first electrical systems in the country.

We have great opportunities in this area but we are taking far too long to exploit them. I ask the Minister to set out what can be done in terms of putting energy projects top of the four year plan published yesterday. The plan should be amended in this regard and this would spearhead the creation of up to 20,000 new jobs. Many new industries would follow on from this. I have studied this project and have considered all the different angles and believe it to be a no-brainer. It is what we should be doing.

The Minister, Deputy Ryan, promised on "Today with Pat Kenny" that he would promote these projects. He has not yet contacted the company concerned. I ask that the Minister of State request the Minister to expedite the situation because there is much that must be done. We as a country must ensure export led energy projects are added to the programme put forward yesterday. I would welcome if that could be done.