When the House adjourned last night this amendment was under consideration. I wish that the amendment was in the name of Deputy Johnson rather than in my name, because on a previous occasion it was remarkable that the atmosphere, during the consideration of an amendment by Deputy Johnson, was strangely different to the atmosphere surrounding a similar amendment of mine on the Committee Stage. There has been so much discussion on the subject-matter of this amendment that it is rather difficult to know how far it is necessary to explain its objects. I do not propose to take up the time of the Dáil unnecessarily, but the amendment is of considerable importance. Deputies will recollect that when the original Shannon scheme was going through the Dáil the object of it was to supply electricity throughout the Saorstát.
Every Deputy may not have had as clearly in his mind then what the limits of the Bill would be, and, therefore, when the Bill came before the House for consideration I think their minds were not as clear on the Bill as they are to-day. In connection with this clause, which deals with the acquisition by the board of authorised undertakings, it has been made clear in the course of the discussion that, so far as the Dublin undertaking is concerned, it is very vital for the Shannon scheme as a whole. I think the Minister has indicated, and it is very obviously the case, that the Dublin supply is the backbone of the whole undertaking. Dublin at present is supplied by an undertaking which has been worked up from small things to a considerable undertaking. It has been worked by the municipality, and I presume it has been looked on by the citizens as an important asset. In connection with that undertaking there is, of course, an important generating station, and the Shannon scheme is presumably going to supply the electricity which has in the past been generated by this station.
The generating of electricity and its distribution are two separate phases of the undertaking, so far as the consumer is concerned. There is no apparent reason why the Shannon scheme, when producing current for distribution throughout the Free State, should be required, especially in districts that have already been developed, to do more than supply current in bulk. I claim in connection with this Bill that its purpose will have been achieved by providing a supply of current in bulk, and by allowing the undertaking to operate under similar conditions to those under which it has grown up, namely, under the supervision and control of the municipal authorities, or whoever may take their place. The only answer I think that will be made against that will be something in the nature of criticism of the undertakings as they exist.
Looking at it from a purely local point of view, I make the claim that when the Shannon scheme is sufficiently developed to be able to supply the Dublin area in bulk it is a reasonable expectation and claim on behalf of the citizens of Dublin that, instead of their undertaking being placed under the absolute control of a central board, it should continue to be controlled, so far as distribution is concerned, and also so far as its development as an industry is concerned, as it was in the past. To deny the citizens that advantage, in face of the fact that the undertaking has continued to grow to its present state under the management of the civic authority, would require very good reasons. It would require a strong argument to convince the citizens that at this stage in the history of the city it is unable efficiently to control and develop an industry which has grown under somewhat difficult circumstances.
I do not think that it can be claimed that any particular economy can be gained by having it controlled by a central board rather than by a municipal authority, but, even if that were so, it would be such an insignificant amount that I do not think it should be claimed that it would override what I may call the natural inclination of the people to have supervision over their own affairs. In the discussion that took place on a previous occasion here I think it was sought to be emphasised that, as the Commissioners were put in to manage the affairs of Dublin City, a good and valid reason was provided for saying that the Board should also be placed permanently in control of the distribution system. That argument, to my mind, is not a very good one.