Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

-----but that is the best we can do.

Reference was made to the contribution made by my colleague, Deputy Anne Ferris, in the Lower House. While the matter the Deputy referred to is not directly related to the Bill, I must inform the House that she was both mistaken and wrongly advised in respect of it.

The fact of the matter is we cannot disperse employment to provincial Ireland unless we have an adequate grid system. There are concerns, some of which are fervently held by people and deserve a serious response and consideration, and others of which are daft and off the wall. I have tried to explain that building out the grid for domestic consumer and employment purposes has nothing to do with whether there will be an export project in green energy to Britain. That is an entirely separate issue, yet we are confusing the question of building out the domestic grid with that of interconnection.

The thrust of European energy policy is interconnection. The age of the island energy market is over. Interconnection is a two-way street. The interconnector that we opened approximately one and a half years ago between Wales and Rush is used to import cheaper electricity, which in turn is exerting some downwards pressure on prices in Ireland. In future, we will import nuclear generated energy from the neighbouring island. That will not cause us problems so long as we are importing it. Unlike some of our other problems, we managed to get over that.

It is a pity that the other debate is haunted by misinformation and, in some cases, disinformation and that the fears of ordinary people who understandably want to protect their domestic environment and so on should be unnecessarily stoked. We must have the necessary infrastructure, be that connectivity, energy or water, to develop and accelerate economic recovery. That is unavoidable. The planning process is rigorous in this country and people ought to give it an opportunity to work.

The question of a wind export project to Britain is an entirely stand-alone one that will fall or rise dependent on the conclusion of an intergovernmental agreement between the two countries. Under the European directive, we must have an intergovernmental agreement before we can develop a traded sector in wind energy with the neighbouring island or anywhere else. Since we have uniquely abundant indigenous resources, we have the capacity to exploit those for gain in terms of revenue stream and employment, but we cannot do it without an intergovernmental agreement. We do not have one currently. I have made plain several times that there can be no question of developers throwing cables back and forth across the Irish Sea to plug into the British grid wherever it suits them. The two Governments must and will stay in control. An intergovernmental agreement would facilitate the emergence of a traded sector. We have done all of the preparatory work necessary on our side and are in the concluding stages of a cost-benefit analysis of what economic benefit would redound to Ireland. On several occasions during Question Time and so on in the Lower House, I have explained that, unless the economic benefit to Ireland was clear, there would be no point in proceeding with such an agreement. The analysis tends to show clearly that there would be significant economic benefit for both jurisdictions. Having said all of that, it takes two to tango.

The answer to whether there will be an agreement will emerge early this year, but decisions about our domestic need to provide a grid for the future that is fit for purpose will have to proceed in any event. We must respond to public consultation in respect of how one best does that. This is the issue confronting us.

I thank those Senators who contributed to the debate for facilitating the passage of Second Stage. I assure Senator Quinn that, judging from the welcome the Bill received in the Lower House, we ought to be able to enact it quickly. In those circumstances, my understanding is that detailed work is under way in anticipation of the legislation being passed to bring the joint venture into being. As such, we should be able to put a serious dent in what is admittedly a less than universally adequate service.