When there is a wait for a government Green Paper of 20 years, it is reasonable to expect that the paper will be far-reaching and radical. However, the Government's Green Paper on energy is neither of these things.
Despite having a thorough and commendable consultants' report on the electricity sector for inspiration, the paper is long on aspiration, short on specifics, devoid of originality and unprepared to make difficult decisions.
The problems which this State faces on energy needs are well documented already and did not need a Green Paper and the presence of the Taoiseach and no fewer than six Ministers to reiterate. In the main, there are three issues of particular concern. The security of energy supplies is paramount.
We are reliant on a level of imported fuels to a degree which borders on the reckless and there are no guarantees on security of supply. Secondly, we must produce more power in a manner which is environmentally sustainable and our obligations under the Kyoto agreements must be honoured. Thirdly, the cost of energy in this State is significantly and unjustifiably higher than in other comparable European countries.
On the issue of security the Green Paper points to fuel diversity as a means of securing a significant proportion of our energy requirement and says that renewable sources should supply 30 per cent of our energy by the year 2020. Great hope is being put on sources such as wind, tidal and wave power and biomass but, as things stand, wind power will be expected to produce 98 per cent of renewable energy.
Wind power has been slow to catch on because it is expensive and not a constant producer. In addition, while wholly conscious of our need to generate renewable power, people are still quick to object to wind turbines being constructed in their own neighbourhood.
But wind power can make a major contribution to security of supply as well as our need for environmental sustainability. Wind however can only provide a significant proportion of our energy needs if it gets the determined support from the Government that it has not received up to now. This includes price supports and active promotion.
The consultants advocated the partial break-up of the ESB on the grounds that the company's inefficiencies and high labour costs result in electricity costs being some €100 million per annum more than they should be. The consultants argue that a break-up, allied to a restructuring of the electricity supply market, would improve efficiency and drive down prices.
The Government however is against a break-up because, it says, it could make the competitive situation worse. This is complete nonsense. The ESB does not have meaningful competition and consumers are paying for this through higher prices. The Government's alternative proposals for increasing competition are timid and unconvincing. A break-up of the ESB would, of course, run the risk of outraged ESB workers, en masse, voting against Government candidates in the general election.