I move that the Bill be now read a Second Time.
The main purpose of the Bill is to raise by £4 million the amount which Bord na Móna may borrow for the performance of its statutory functions. The existing limit on such borrowings is £24 million and the Board has to date borrowed £23,796,557. Of this £20.85 million was advanced from the Central Fund; Messrs. Guinness advanced £¾ million.
The Board raised £2 million by an issue of stock to the public in May last year and the balance was raised by borrowings from an insurance company and the Board's Superannuation Fund. Borrowings to date will finance the Board's developments until late this summer. The Board has already repaid £2,568,915 of the advances from the Central Fund and £184,917 of the loan from Messrs. Guinness.
The main output of Bord na Móna is determined by the requirements of peat for electricity generation. It is Government policy that all bogs which are economically usable for electricity generation are developed for this purpose.
Bord na Móna supplies sod peat for the electricity generating stations at Portarlington, Allenwood and Lanesboro which have a total generating capacity of 97.5 megawatts. No further sod peat generating stations are planned. Milled peat is supplied for electricity generation to the stations at Ferbane, Rhode, Shannonbridge and Bellacorick which have a total installed capacity of 250 megawatts. The normal annual fuel requirements of these stations are 565,000 tons of sod peat and 1,860,000 tons of milled peat. Sod peat and milled peat requirements for electricity generation at present account for some 75 per cent of the total sales of Bord na Móna. Two further milled peat generating units are planned, viz. a 40 megawatt extension at Lanesboro to come into operation early in 1966 and a 40 megawatt unit at Shannonbridge to come into operation about 1972. When these two additional units are in operation the total requirements of milled peat for electricity generation will be 2,420,000 tons per annum.
Generation of electricity from native resources as a whole, that is to say hydro, peat and native coal, amounted to about 62.5 per cent of total output in the year ended 31st March, 1964. In that year 35.6 per cent of the total number of units supplied to the system was provided by peat-fired stations. Peat-fired stations now represent about 36 per cent of the total generating capacity of the ESB. The development by existing methods of our peat resources for electricity generation will be completed by about 1972 when the second of the two additional peat-fired units is expected to be in operation. As by far the greater proportion of new generating plant planned to come into operation in the meantime will be based on oil, the proportion of total generating capacity of the ESB based on peat will have fallen to about 25 per cent by 1972.
In addition to the production of peat for electricity generation the Board produces annually about 330,000 tons of sod peat for general sale as well as about 700,000 tons of milled peat for briquette manufacture and 350,000 bales of moss peat.
The development plans of Bord na Móna are set out in the Second Programme for Economic Expansion. The following are the main lines of expansion envisaged:—
(i) Firstly, there is the new briquette factory, estimated to cost £1.75 million to be built in the Shannonbridge area and which is planned to come into operation in about three years' time. Production from the three existing factories in 1964-65 amounted to 295,000 tons. The Board expect that the output of these factories can be increased to 320,000 tons per annum. The proposed new factory is planned to produce 135,000 tons per annum which would give a total output from the four factories of 455,000 tons per annum or the equivalent of 300,000 tons of coal. The quantity of milled peat required for the production of briquettes at the rate of 450,000 tons per annum would be about 1,200,000 tons per annum;
(ii) The second main item is bog development estimated to cost £1.70 million. The decision to divert some 300,000 tons per annum of the milled peat output of the Blackwater-Garryduff group of bogs to supply the fourth briquette factory has necessitated the postponement of the second 40 MW generating unit at the Shannonbridge station which has been planned for 1968-69 and which would have absorbed this output. The Athlone group of bogs now being developed to supply this unit will not be in full production until about 1972. This is the last remaining bog area suitable for development for milled peat production by the Board's present methods.
(iii) The third item is the Board's second moss peat factory which is being erected near Portlaoise. This factory, which will cost about £300,000, is expected to commence production during the coming summer and will enable the existing output of about 350,000 bales per annum to be doubled. Deputies will be aware that about 80 per cent of the present moss peat production is exported. It is expected that by far the greater part of the output of the new factory will also be exported.
The balance of the Board's capital requirements is in respect of increased working capital necessitated by the expanding scale of the Board's activities and of the cost of miscellaneous minor works.
The provision in the Bill for the raising, from £24 million to £28 million, of the existing limit on borrowings by the Board will enable the Board to continue its development work for another three years or so when the House will have a further opportunity of reviewing the position. On the basis of the present estimates a further £2 million borrowing will probably be necessary at that stage for the completion of the Board's development programme.
The average number of persons employed by Bord na Móna at present is 5,300.
The opportunity of this Bill is being taken to repeal section 4 of the Turf Development Act, 1963. This section provides that a contract fixing the remuneration, period of office, not exceeding five years, etc. of the Managing Director of Bord na Móna may be entered into with him by the Minister with the concurrence of the Minister for Finance and the approval of the Government notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the general provisions relating to appointment, terms of office, etc. of members of the Board under the Act under which the Board was established. This section was intended to give the Managing Director at the time security of office. No contract has been made with the present Managing Director. In practice, the Managing Director is appointed by the Government for periods of five years at a time and this is a more convenient administrative arrangement than a formal contract. The provision is, therefore, unnecessary and is being revoked.
Bord na Móna has served the nation well and I am sure I am expressing the feeling of the House in congratulating the management and staff of the Board on the success of their undertaking and the efficient manner in which their operations are conducted. The success of the Board's first public stock issue in May last, which Deputies will recall was heavily over-subscribed, reflects the confidence of the public in the Board's undertaking.
I confidently recommend the Bill to the House.