Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 9 Dec 2003

Vol. 576 No. 5

Written Answers. - Natural Gas Grid.

Richard Bruton

Question:

310 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources if he has obtained reports on the safety of the gas network in Dublin; the progress in replacing older parts of the network which are prone to leakage; and if he has satisfied himself that all reasonable steps are in place to prevent accidents of the sort which was recently experienced. [30024/03]

Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources (Mr. D. Ahern):

Safety of the natural gas network is the statutory responsibility of Bord Gáis Éireann, BGE, and the Commission for Energy Regulation, CER, oversees how it discharges that responsibility. Safety is part of the daily operation and of the planning and management of the network.

A programme to replace all cast iron pipes over four inches in diameter or serving premises of four or more storeys, instituted in the wake of the Raglan House explosion in the mid-1980s, was completed well within the ten years set for it. Other cast iron mains have been and continue to be replaced in pace with road works, building development and new installations. Approximately 85% of BGE's mains network is now polyethylene pipe. The network is now 8,000 kilometres compared with the 3,000 kilometres when BGE took over from the former town gas companies. In the area of Dublin city between the canals, all cast iron mains have been replaced and work to replace the remaining 1,000 kilometres was scheduled to take a further ten years.

One of the recommendations made to the CER in the report of the investigation into the explosion which destroyed a family home on 2 November was for BGE to consider an accelerated replacement programme in areas liable to subsidence. When the commissioner wrote to me on 26 November, the day he published the report, he indicated that he accepted this recommendation and all the recommendations in the report. BGE had already appointed consultants to assist it in this before the report was published.