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Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 17 Dec 1980

Vol. 325 No. 8

Written Answers. - Coal Importation.

311.

asked the Minister for Energy if he is aware of the monopoly position that now exist in the importation of coal; if he regards this desirable and if he will make a statement on the matter.

I am not aware of a monopoly position in the importation of coal in the sense that there are not, to my knowledge, any regulations or import controls which would preclude interested persons from engaging in the coal trade.

It is well known however that, largely as a result of developments in the trade over the past decade or so, some areas are served by a single importer. This is a development outside my control but I should make it clear that interested parties, who have the necessary resources and facilities available to them, are at all times free to engage in the importation of coal.

As I indicated in reply to a recent question by another Deputy, the statutory procedures for investigating the public interest aspects of the present importation and general trading arrangements are not within my area of responsibility. I should mention, however, that my Department's close monitoring of the coal trade has given me no reason to believe that any difficulties experienced in the past by consumers could be primarily attributed to abuse of a monopoly position. In the circumstances which I have outlined there does not appear, at the present time, to be either scope or justification for formal, official intervention in the matter. This is not to say that the position does not need to be considered in the broader context of energy supply policy. While there are, for instance in the Dublin area, no formal constraints on new entrants to the coal importing business, there are practical difficulties of considerable proportions. I have a concern in these broader implications and the situation will continue to have my attention.

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