Vol. 431 No. 5
53 Mr. Noonan (Limerick East) asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications the steps, if any, he intends taking to implement the recommendations of the Moriarty Task Force, in relation to the sale of milled peat by Bord na Móna to the ESB.
The Moriarty Task Force recommended that plans to implement greatly reduced prices for milled peat to the ESB so as to bring that fuel more into line with the price of other energy sources should be completed by end June, 1993. The Government noted the recommendations in relation to the sale of milled peat and, as a first step, the subsidy element of the price paid by the ESB to Bord na Móna will be identified and made transparent.
Making the subsidy transparent will not contribute to reducing the excess cost of electricity — that can only come about by reducing the subsidy. In this context the reason for the existence of the subsidy is relevant. Bord na Móna is a company with net borrowings of £180 million. The cost of servicing the debt as set out in the latest published accounts of Bord na Móna (year ended March 1992) was £20.3 million. Without the subsidy Bord na Móna would be unable to survive. Ireland is by no means the only country in the European Community that subsidises indigenous energy. The Government however agrees with the implications in the Moriarity Task Force report that the level of the subsidy should be minimised.
