Seanad ReportThere were downsides to our continued vehement opposition to the use of nuclear energy for electricity generation, the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Mr Dermot Ahern, said.
Right across the rest of Europe, where they had nuclear energy, there was much greater diversity of sources for electricity generation.
"They are not as over-reliant on one type of generation as opposed to another. To a certain extent nuclear energy can tend to be cheaper in some instances, and, we are told, has no effect on the ozone layer."
Because of our vehement opposition, there were obviously some downsides in relation to the type of generation we could operate with and also in relation to the issue of pricing.
Minister Ahern said that the future operation of the coal-fired Moneypoint station was a matter primarily for the ESB. If it was not to be up-graded to comply with new environmental requirements, it would have to close by 2011 and an alternative electricity generating plant, probably gas-fired, would have to be in place by that time.
If the company was to justify major new investment at Moneypoint, it must be in the context of benchmarked best practice in all respects.
The decision on the future of Moneypoint would be very significant, not only for the people involved there but also for the nation as a whole. "A suggestion has been made that we go to completely gas- fired. If we were to do that, it would mean that about 80 per cent of all the electricity that we generate would be gas-fired.
"I think, given the fact that the average in the EU is about 33 per cent, it would be somewhat difficult for us to be over-reliant on gas-fired electricity generation. If you look at the pie charts for Ireland as opposed to pie charts for the rest of Europe in relation to where we generate electricity, there is a massive hole in our pie chart. And that is the fact that we do not have nuclear energy generated electricity."
The House passed the Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Bill 2004 which raises the ESB's statutory borrowing limit from €2.03 billion to €6 billion.
The Minister said this would facilitate the major infrastructure investment programme being undertaken by the company.
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The Minister for Defence, Mr Smith, rejected criticism of the arrangements made for members of the Defence Forces deployed in Dublin as a precaution in case of serious disorder at last weekend's May Day demonstrations.
The Leas Cathaoirleach, Mr Paddy Burke (FG), said it had been brought to his attention that the accommodation for personnel, particularly those from the Western Command, had been very poor. Up to 300 men had been sleeping in a hangar with no heating.
The Minister said that the appropriate level of accommodation had been provided having regard to the short duration of the deployment.