Deputy John Connor gave me notice of his intention to raise on the Adjournment the possible closure of the coal-burning power station at Arigna.
Adjournment Debate. - Arigna, County Roscommon, Power Station.
I will be sharing some of my time with my colleague, Deputy Gerry Reynolds.
Is that satisfactory? Agreed.
The question we raise in the House this evening relates primarily to the future of the 15 megawatt coal-burning power station in Arigna. While that is very serious, there is nevertheless a broader and more serious allied question, namely the future of coal mining in Arigna.
On 29 October last the ESB announced that they intended to close the coal-burning generating station, making 57 people redundant. Since 95 per cent of the coal mined in the area is consumed in the power station this means too the cessation and closure of coal mining in the Arigna region. This is an industry which is almost 150 years old and the closure of mining will bring just over 200 future redundancies. The combined closures of the power station and mining will put over 260 men on the dole, most of them in the age range 20 to 45 years and married with families.
Given what has been said and promised over the past decade and given the economic and social facts, the people of Arigna have every reason to expect better. Let us go back just ten years to 1979. In the years immediately prior to that it was said that the reserves of high grade coal were running out. The debate centred on how to use the lower grade coal called "crow coal" so abundant in the area. That debate was brought to an end when Mr. George Colley announced that the Government had sanctioned the construction by the ESB of a second power station in Arigna to burn this crow coal, which new technologies had made easy and economical. The output of the station was to be 45 megawatts and work, according to the promise, would commence in 1980. Work did not commence in 1980 and by late 1981 it was obvious that the ESB were having second thoughts. The community and the unions organising the miners became active and sought from the Government and the ESB the exact position.
It will be recalled that early in 1982 there was the second of the three-in-a-row general elections. The second power station for Arigna became a major election issue in the Roscommon and Sligo-Leitrim constituency. Of course the people were given assurances, as they always are on these occasions. At a famous public meeting in Drumshambo on 14 February 1982 a letter was read out to hundreds of locals, including almost all the employees in the collieries and the power station. The letter, they were told by the speaker, Mr. Seán Doherty, who happens now to be Cathaoirleach of the Seanad, was given under the hand and seal of Charles J. Haughey and it promised that if Fianna Fáil were returned to office work on the power station would commence immediately. Fianna Fáil were returned to office and needless to say, in keeping with their tradition, the promise was not kept. When the ESB unions met the board of the ESB later that year they were told the Cabinet had shelved — indeed killed — the idea of a second power station, notwithstanding the fact that one of the members of that Cabinet had read out the famous, or perhaps infamous, Drumshambo promise.
After further negotiations involving the new Government elected in November of that year, the ESB and the unions, an agreement was reached that the present 15 megawatt station would be maintained and kept going as long as there was coal of sufficent quality to burn in it and no major mechanical breakdown in the station. That remained the position. Deputy Spring, the Minister for Energy, in 1985 reiterated the arrangement. There were no breakdowns and the supply of coal at 45,000 tonnes per year had no difficulty in being met. That remained the situation without change until the ESB bombshell announcement on 29 October last.
In terms of output the power station is the fifth most efficent in the ESB's grid of power stations. The Minister will no doubt try to counter this argument by saying that Arigna coal is expensive to produce and imported coal is much cheaper. That is true and we accept it. However, we could argue, for example, that we could buy cheaper beef on the world market than Irish-produced beef since the world price of beef is just about half our intervention supported price. The same could be said about our dairy industry but we do not argue in that way because when we take all the economic implications into account there is no validity in that argument. I submit that these kinds of arguments about our native coal have similar degrees of invalidity.
The Minister simply cannot let this unique region and its industry die. Arigna mines are the last working coal-mines in Ireland and the three collieries involved are the last privately owned collieries in Europe. There are alternatives and the Government must apply them. One option is the recently announced EC RECHAR programme for the regeneration of declining coal-mining areas. We understand it is to have a budget of £300 million ECUs or approximately IR£260 million. Have the Government formulated a submission to RECHAR? I do not think they have. Will the Minister assure us tonight that he will make such a submission and that Arigna, the only remaining active mining area in Ireland, will be the cornerstone of that submission?
Another option which the Minister should bear in mind, should the Government lack the will to stop the ESB closing down the power station, is the affore-station-timber alternative. The establishment of a new wood pulp factory has been mooted for several years. There is an ever pressing need to establish such a plant because Coillte Teoranta and other observers agree that the raw material in Ireland for such a plant will more than double in the next decade. In a region consisting of counties Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, west Cavan, Longford, Roscommon, Mayo and north Galway you will find 40 per cent of the national forests and probably more than 40 per cent of the available raw material because of the type and nature of timber in these regions. If the coal-mining industry and the Arigna power station are to close then what better economic location for the proposed wood pulp plant, given that it is in the middle of a region where 40 per cent of the resources are.
The proposed wood pulp plant was first mooted by a Government spokesman some years ago when he said it would be located "somewhere in the north-west". The fabric of this unique community which straddles three counties — Roscommon, Leitrim and Sligo — has but one bind, that is mining and allied power generation station.
I hesitate to interrupt the Deputy merely to inform him that some two and a half minutes now remain of the time available to him and his colleague.
I will cede the remaining time to Deputy Reynolds.
I thank Deputy Connor for allowing me to share his time. We have been talking a great deal in recent days about smoke free zones but in counties Leitrim and Roscommon we are looking for more smoke. Arigna power station has been a beacon of prosperity to the people of mid-Leitrim, north Roscommon and the east Sligo area. The announcement by the ESB that the power station in Arigna would close within the next six to nine months has caused major concern in the area. As the representative of Sligo/Leitrim. I have to say that both counties will be affected by the closure of the mines. In County Leitrim alone, 150 jobs will be lost if the closure goes ahead. Since Leitrim is the only county in Ireland with a declining population, it is essential that the power station and the mines remain in production because the loss of these jobs would rip the heart of the area and have disastrous consequences for the future of County Leitrim.
My colleague, Deputy Connor, has dealt with the promises made by former Fianna Fáil Ministers that the power station would not close until all coal in the area had been exhausted. Surveys carried out state that there is enough coal to keep the mines and power station in production for the next ten to 15 years. It is necessary for the Government to state that the power station will be kept in production until all the coal in the area is exhausted.
Finally, I call on the Minister to provide an alternative industry for County Leitrim as a matter of urgency and I suggest that the proposed wood pulp factory would be ideally located in this county. The reality is that the mines cannot go on forever and the wood pulp factory would need to be in production before this happens.
At the outset I would like to point out that the decision by the ESB to stop accepting supplies of coal and to close the Arigna power station was no quick overnight decision. As early as 1983 when the ESB submitted their strategic plan for the period 1983-88 it was recognised that the underlying supply conditions could not support an open ended commitment to keeping the power station going. The ESB then proposed the closure of the station.
Arising out of discussions and representations to the ESB regarding their plans, the ESB presented modified proposals which involved keeping the station open. These were accepted by Government in 1984 on the basis that the station would be kept open as long as no major investment was required and suitable local coal was available at an economic price. This was announced by the then Tánaiste and Minister for Energy in the Coalition Government in June 1984.
Since that time, however, the ESB have built up a stockpile of about 93,000 tonnes of coal at the station which is equivalent to over two years' supply to the power station. In addition, total current reserves of usable, semi-bituminous coal in the area is estimated by the Geological Survey of Ireland at less than 100,000 tonnes. I should stress that the ESB tell me that such reserves of coal are becoming increasingly uneconomic for the mine owners to extract and that the proposition of the continued operation of the mines at current coal prices are not an attractive one.
The current price of Arigna coal is approximately £91 per tonne compared to an average price of £32 tonne for coal delivered to Moneypoint. However, when adjusted to a compared calorific value, the price of Arigna coal is approximately £111 per tonne. The cost of producing a unit of electricity at Arigna is 7.62p compared to 1.37p at Moneypoint, 2.83p at the Tarbert oil station and 4.89p at the Ferbane peat fired station. Arigna station is thus five times more expensive than the cheapest ESB station and the ESB are actually selling Arigna sourced electricity at a loss.
In view of the diminishing usable coal reserves, the high cost of power produced and the fact that this power station is now operating more than six years beyond its expected life span of 25 years, I was recently advised by the ESB that they intend to close the station within the next two to three years. Regrettably, because of these diminishing reserves there is no way that the station can continue in operation for very much longer. In the circumstances, it is desirable that the operations in both the mines and the power station should be wound down in an orderly fashion.
The Arigna power station employs 53 people and up to 180 are employed in the three companies supplying the station. Arigna Collieries Limited Laydens, are the largest of three companies working the Connacht coalfields and have a total employment of about 120 people. The ESB state that Layden have for several years signalled that their deposits are nearing exhaustion and are anxious to achieve an orderly wind down of their activities. They currently have reserves of about 90,000 tonnes of usable coal which are becoming increasingly uneconomic to work.
The second of the three companies Flynn and Lehany Limited employ between 30 and 40 people but have little or no coal left at ground level. They do, however, have about three years' supply underground but this is of poor quality and its extraction would be totally uneconomic.
The third colliery is owned by Wynnes and employes about 20 people. The mining involved is highly difficult and labour intensive. They only have about 15,000 tonnes of usable coal reserves.
The impact on mine workers of the proposed closure is such that approximately 130 miners in the 20-40 year age bracket will become redundant. These workers are likely to find it very difficult to obtain alternative employment with any of the existing major employers in the area and, therefore, the potential for investment in the Arigna area with a view to attracting new industries needs to be explored urgently. The ESB have advised me that they have been in contact with local development groups and are actively pursuing ways in which the ESB can assist in the attraction of viable alternative industries to the area. They tell me they are prepared to contribute financially to the establishment of any new viable industry that might be attracted to the area. They have also been in contact with the IDA and have had discussions with the manager of the three county councils involved about planning future employment in the region.
Both the west and north-west regional programmes drawn up in the context of the National Plan refer to the situation at Arigna and highlight the need for providing alternative employment when the station closes.
What I am concerned about is that the State should facilitate replacement industry in so far as it is possible to do so. Arigna have provided good jobs for the area for over 30 years. I want to ensure that there will be soundly based jobs for future generations of workers in Arigna.
I am therefore, in discussions with my colleague the Minister for Industry and Commerce with a view to establishing a working group aimed at identifying and locating suitable alternative employment in the general area. It is intended that this group will comprise representatives of the Department of Industry and Commerce, the IDA, the local county development teams, the ESB and my Department. It is my intention that this group will be asked to do their work with a view to an early report for the consideration of the Government.
The Dáil adjourned at 11.30 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 13 December 1989.