I move that the Bill be now read a Second Time. The main purpose of the Bill is to secure that the necessary water storage will be provided so that the Electricity Supply Board can proceed with the full development of the Erne hydro-electric scheme. It is proposed to authorise the board to make an agreement with the Ministry of Finance, Northern Ireland, in the terms of the draft schedule to the Bill and to make any supplemental agreement or agreements that may be required.
Deputies will be aware that the Electricity Supply Board have been proceeding for some time past with the partial development works on the Erne. The Erne hydro-electric scheme was approved in 1945 by an Order of the Minister for Industry and Commerce under the Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Act of 1945. The scheme approved by this Order covered the first stage of development. It entailed the construction in County Donegal of two reservoirs and two power stations and, while in itself the scheme was complete for the first stage of development, allowance was made for the extension which will be practicable under the agreement in the Schedule.
These works in County Donegal which have been initiated and are in progress are estimated to cost a total of £4,346,000, of which £3,100,000 will be required for the civil construction works (including compensation) and £1,246,000 will be required for mechanical and electrical plant. As already stated, there are two power stations under construction; one known as the Cliff station and the other known as the Cathaleen's Falls station. The first stage of development at the Cliff station will provide a 10,000 K.W. generating set and it is expected that power will be available from this set in three or four months. At Cathaleen's Falls, the first stage will give two sets each of 22,000 K.W. capacity and power is expected to be available from the first of these sets by the mid-summer of 1951, and from the second set by the end of 1951. In a year of average rainfall these three sets, at the completion of the stage of partial development, will provide an annual output of electricity amounting to about 150,000,000 units.
The partial scheme to which reference has been made is known as a "run of the river" development, that is to say, it utilises the uncontrolled flow of the river as it arrives, naturally, from Upper and Lower Loughs Erne. With an uncontrolled flow there is excessive wastage of water during times of flood and, if the maximum development is to be obtained, the flood waters must be controlled and conserved for use in generating power during periods of low flow. Storage must be provided and for this purpose certain works will be undertaken in County Fermanagh and on the border. These works are described in the draft agreement. They include the removal of existing sluices on the River Erne at Belleek so that the levels of the loughs may be controlled from sluices incorporated in the board's dam at Cliff station; the deepening of the River Erne from Belleek up to its outlet from Lower Lough Erne, i.e. over a distance of about four miles; the construction of sluices across the River Erne, just down-stream from Enniskillen, to prevent the level of Upper Lough Erne falling below a water level of 150 ft. O.D.; the construction of a new road bridge over the River Erne at Belleek, and removal of the existing bridge, as the river will have to be widened at this site. All these works are in County Fermanagh except those connected with the removal of the sluices and the road bridge at Belleek, which are partly in County Fermanagh and partly in County Donegal.
To achieve the advantages of the full development scheme, therefore, co-operation between the Electricity Supply Board and the Ministry of Finance of Northern Ireland will be necessary in the execution of the works and in the control of the water levels of the loughs. Negotiations for the purpose of reaching agreement on the many issues, technical and otherwise, which arose were conducted between the interested parties and I am happy to say that they were conducted in a most co-operative spirit with the result that a reasonable agreement has been reached. I must pay tribute to all those concerned on both sides who contributed towards this highly satisfactory conclusion and I am sure that the House will wish to join in that tribute. A complementary measure has been introduced in the Northern Parliament so that legislative authority to execute the agreement will be obtained on both sides.
The works which will be carried out under the agreement by the Northern Ministry of Finance will ensure the efficient working of the three generating sets being constructed in the first stage of development. Without these works, the production of power would be somewhat intermittent and continuity of output could only be obtained by the erection of an auxiliary steam plant. The Fermanagh works will not only ensure continuity of supply but will increase by one-third the number of units which can be generated in the three sets now being constructed and will, in addition, enable a second generating set of 10,000 K.W. capacity to be installed at the Cliff station. The total capacity of the Erne station at the completion of the full development will be 230,000,000 units. The total cost to the Electricity Supply Board of the full development is estimated at £6,346,000 or £2,000,000 more than the figure I have already given as the cost of partial development. The extra sum of £2,000,000 includes provision for a payment of £750,000 which it is estimated will have to be made by the Electricity Supply Board to the Northern Ministry of Finance in respect of the works to be executed under the agreement.
The additional output of electricity amounting to 230,000,000 units a year from the Erne scheme will make a substantial contribution to the ever-growing demand which it is anticipated will continue for some years. The number of units of electricity sold by the board in 1938 was 244,000,000; in 1941, 345,000,000; in 1946, 379,000,000; in 1948, 492,000,000; and last year 569,000,000. The Electricity Supply Board have estimated that by the year 1955 the demand for supply will be of the order of 1,400,000,000 units a year. By that time, it is anticipated that the generating capacity of the stations now in production and the new stations, steam and hydro, under construction or in contemplation will be of the order of 1,354,000,000 units.
From our point of view, the measure now before the House has no significant drainage interest. Under the Bill, the drainage board is to be dissolved. The Drainage and Improvement of Lands (Ireland) Act, 1865, was the authority for the constitution of the Lough and River Erne drainage district and until the summer of 1940 the district was managed by a drainage board elected annually by the owners of the improved lands as provided in the Act. An important function of the board was to operate the sluice gates at Belleek in a manner that would maintain the upper and lower lakes at the levels established under the final award made by the Commissioners of Public Works in 1891. The drainage board resigned in June, 1940, and has not functioned since then, but in March, 1941, an arrangement was made by the Commissioners of Public Works with the Northern Ministry of Finance under which the sluices are being operated under the joint control of their respective engineers. The cost is shared by the commissioners and the Ministry in proportion to the annual value of the benefit derived from the original scheme by the lands on each side of the Border. Our share of the cost is one-eighth and provision for the sum required, which in the current year is £73, is made in the Public Works and Buildings Vote. This existing arrangement for the joint control of the Belleek sluices will be continued under Section 8 of the Bill until the present sluices are removed and the new system of control comes into operation under the terms of the draft agreement. The works which will be carried out to provide the extra water storage under the Erne hydro-electric scheme, including the improvement of the outfall channel from the lower lake between Roscor and Belleek will, it is expected, relieve from ordinary summer and harvest flooding the area served by the original drainage and navigation scheme.
The draft agreement in the Schedule to the Bill is largely of a technical character and deals with the works which I have already mentioned, the method of controlling the water levels, financial matters arising from the construction of the works, arbitration and some other minor matters. It is proposed that the Ministry of Finance, Belfast, shall act as agent for the Electricity Supply Board in carrying out the works in County Fermanagh and shall seek the necessary legislative authority from the Northern Parliament for interference with property resulting from the works and for the periodic variation of the levels of the loughs and other necessary consequential purposes.