I find it extraordinary that the Union has been lecturing us about our public service yet it cannot deliver something that is of vital European as well as Irish interest. I understand 1,000 MW of power is ready to proceed.
As I understand it, under the REFIT scheme, as proposed, a generator — in other words, the person who owns the windmill — gets €66 per MW hour produced, whereas the supplier — in other words, the middleman — gets just under €10 per MW hour. I further understand that in the event of the price of electricity rising dramatically, which could easily happen as oil becomes scarce, all of the upside goes to the middleman — the supplier — rather than to the generator. Is my understanding correct? Does the Minister consider this a reasonable balance? Should that balance be more in favour of, first, the consumer, in that when the price goes over a certain limit there would be a rebate to the PSO, and, second, the generator — in other words, the person who invested in the windmills — rather than the middle group, namely, the network which delivers the electricity?