Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Sinn Féin will not oppose this Bill but we will put on the record a deep frustration with the process. It is not good to rush through any legislation but especially legislation that dilutes environmental protection measures. It is shocking that we found ourselves in such a spectacular mess when it comes to electricity generation and demand.

We had an interesting private meeting of the joint committee. Other Senators also attended. I will not name the person who said it but there are times when I would like people to put their hands up and say mistakes were made. Regarding this legislation, I would love an admission that we have facilitated unfettered demand through large energy users without having a strategic plan to manage the capacity of the grid to accommodate that demand. That is why we are in the mess we are in. It would be nice to hear an admission. It was the previous two Governments that put us in that position but it would be nice if there was at least an admission of that.

More important, I would like an admission of the reason we are here today. It is clear mistakes were made with this legislation. Pre-legislative scrutiny is important for members of the Opposition because we are not members of the Government parties that may have access to more information from Ministers. The point of pre-legislative scrutiny is to have adequate time to tease out the legislation, ensure it is compliant with EU and environmental protection law and identify any gaps so that it is fit for purpose. This is the third time we have been asked to waive pre-legislative scrutiny and rush through all Stages to keep the lights on next winter. Nobody wants the lights to go off but this is the third time we have been asked to come in and do this.

When I raised concerns with the Minister of State in October he said he was sure I would not thank him for coming back a third time. Here we are a third time and I am not thanking him. He repeated what we heard in the briefing, namely, that this is a package of legislation. If this is a package of legislation, why was that not flagged when he brought a Bill through in October? Why was it not put on the record that we will need further legislation to address this shortfall in electricity generation? Why the rush if it was considered a package? It is interesting that the legislation in October was introduced in the week before a recess and here we are with this Bill in another week before a recess. There was no advance warning other than what we found out earlier this week about the legislation.

The last time the Minister of State was here, I also asked him whether we were compliant with EU legislation and if we had made contact with the European Commission on the need for this emergency legislation. I ask him to answer a couple of questions. What has happened between October and now that we are again rushing through legislation? What changed and why the rush?Has the European Commission been in touch? Has the Attorney General flagged concerns? We have a new Attorney General now. Is it that we are facing a judicial review? Are competitors in the market threatening to take legal action? In the briefing, we were told the Bill is to put us on a very sound legal footing. I want to understand why we felt we were on a sound legal footing in October but now feel we are not. What has changed? Perhaps it has to do with the subject of the recent Business Postarticle that stated data centres have been in touch with the Minister, Deputy Coveney, about how long it is taking to get EPA industrial emissions licences for their emergency backup generation. Are we freeing up the EPA so it can focus on these industrial emissions licences? There are many questions that would have been teased out during pre-legislative scrutiny. Maybe the Minister of State can shed light on them in his response.

One of our amendments will be ruled out of order, as it certainly was in the Dáil, but we must acknowledge the CRU has confirmed there are 11 data centres either connected to the gas grid or awaiting connection and energy companies in this country that have a secure gas supply and are following the mantra of “If you build it, they will come.” Data centres have been built without even having tenants. We need a strategy to address demand-side reduction, the increasing demand by the large energy users and our grid’s capacity. I ask the Minister of State to answer some of these questions. He should not thank me for coming back for the fourth time. We really do not want to be back here a fourth time.