Seanad Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 2 Mar 1988

Vol. 118 No. 16

Adjournment Matter. - Cremer and Warner Report.

Mr. Doyle

I would like to thank the Cathaoirleach for allowing me to raise this matter tonight and to thank the Minister for attending.

After the explosion which demolished part of Raglan House, killing two people and injuring four, the Government requested Cremer and Warner to make a report which was duly submitted to the Minister for Energy last March. Dublin Gas, now Bord Gáis Éireann, have been tackling a major job of restoring public confidence in natural gas as a fuel, in the integrity of the gas grid and the company. There has been almost a complete change in the management of Dublin Gas. Bord Gáis Éireann and the Minister are to be congratulated on the interest they have shown in this matter. The Minister has been very conscious, I know, of the need to improve safety standards in the gas industry. I thank him for his interest in this matter.

There is no question that the new management had a great deal of ground to make up. Mr. Brendan Sommers, the receiver appointed to Dublin Gas by Bord Gáis Éireann in April 1986, made no secret of the poor state of the company's work practice and form of management when he took over. Routine maintenance was unknown, with the result that the pipe grid fell into serious disrepair. Cremer and Warner concluded that hazardous situations still exist in the grid. The problem is that no one knows where they are because of the lack of data on past repairs and replacement work. During the past year the Gas Company have replaced, I understand, about 27 kilometres of gas piping which compares with only 49 kilometres replaced in the 20 years up to 1987. The main replacement and upgrading, however, will be costly and time consuming.

I sincerely hope the necessary finances will be available to Bord Gáis Éireann to carry out this work. I believe that under the present planning £50 million will be spent over the next five years. It is a little difficult to see why the hazard problems referred to in the Cremer and Warner report are not tackled on a much shorter time scale. I understand the reasons given by the chief executive of the gas company are that the company quite simply do not know where they are and that they may be dealt with only when they become obvious through leaks. Nevertheless, it is evident that the gas company have revised operating procedures and more stringent regulations governing repair and maintenance work as well as intensified training. All these are being introduced. The gas company are committed to improving the whole area of gas distribution.

The new management knows that if there is another Raglan House the consequences for gas sales and for the future of the company will be dismal. This is the main reason I tabled this motion tonight. On the Adjournment some weeks ago I spoke about Dublin City air pollution. If we are to remove pollution from the city air we will have to use more smokeless fuel in the city. Recently Dublin Corporation surveyed 850 houses in Ballyfermot and 98 per cent of the houses surveyed were using solid fuel, mostly bituminous coal. I believe many people would be willing to use natural gas but there is a niggling fear in their minds that it is unsafe. It is essential that any doubt in the public mind in this area should be totally removed.

For all their reassurances about the safety and desirability of natural gas as a fuel for domestic consumers, the Government are not without fault when it comes to the implementation of the Cremer and Warner recommendations. The main recommendation, the appointment of a task force to examine all multi-storey buildings in the country liable to progressive collapse in the event of an accident, has been partially implemented. The task force were appointed but failed in their brief which was to examine all multi-storey buildings, blaming this on the limited time available to them and the scarcity of information supplied by the owners and administrators of multi-storey blocks around the country. Because they did not indentify individual vulnerable buildings, the Government were prevented from complying with another of the Cremer and Warner recommendations — that the owners of such buildings should be notified of the necessary remedial measures to be carried out. Neither did the Government comply with the recommendations that all local authorities should be informed of the task force's findings and that they, in turn, should inform owners of buildings identified as being liable to progressive collapse, or the remedial measures required.

The Government also failed to comply with a recommendation that did not depend on the task force. Launching the task force last September the Government said they would be introducing legislation before Christmas giving statutory backing to a recommendation that owners of buildings, deemed to be in need of examination, would have to submit a certificate showing that an appraisal and, where necessary, remedial works had been done. That legislation has not come before the Dáil or Seanad and I have to ask why.

Many of the lessons learned from the Cremer and Warner report and the Raglan House disaster seem to have faded together with the memory of the New Year's eve explosion. The Cremer and Warner report was unequivocal in stating that buildings with the same type of construction as Raglan House need to be identified urgently and measures taken to minimise access which could cause damage and progressive collapse. That has not happened and the only conclusion which can be drawn from that is that Raglan House could happen again. In view of this I earnestly ask the Minister to have the recommendations of the Cremer and Warner report and the task force implemented in full as a matter of urgency.

Minister for Energy (Mr. R. Burke)

I take this opportunity to inform the Seanad of the excellent progress which has been made in the implementation of the recommendations of the Cremer and Warner report on the explosions at Raglan House and Dolphin House.

On 5 January I published a lengthy nad detailed statement on the progress made with the implementation of this and other reports on Dublin Gas since I became involved in these matters. There are over 100 recommendations in these reports and progress has continued since then. I will now outline the present position.

Securing the future of Dublin Gas was, of course, a major element in the drive for safety and BGE assumed ownership of the assets of Dublin Gas on 3 November 1987. At the same time I made an order pursuant to the Gas (Amendment) Act, 1987, which gives Bord Gáis Éireann the necessary legislative powers to function as a gas utility in the Dublin area. This order — S.I. No. 283 of 1987 — includes a number of articles related to safety. BGE have the power to enter premises to inspect pipelines and fittings and to cut off a gas supply if it is considered unsafe. The board also have very extensive powers for dealing with emergencies, including the power to order people to evacuate buildings.

Under the order BGE are obliged to report to me periodically on the state of the gas network and to co-operate with any investigator whom I may appoint to review their safety procedures. The order also sets out the nature of investigations which must be undertaken for different types of gas incident. These range from internal BGE investigations in minor cases to the appointment of external investigators in the event of a serious incident.

Gas safety is a subject which I have been extremely conscious of since taking office and I appointed a technical officer of my Department to closely monitor, on an on-going basis, the implementation by Dublin Gas of the various recommendations.

I am satisfied that overall, excellent progress on safety has been made by Dublin Gas and I am confident that sustained vigilance and commitment will see further improvement. I would like to pay a particular tribute to the staff of Dublin Gas who have responded very positively to the new safety initiatives.

Implementation of the recommendations of the Cremer and Warner report is now over 95 per cent complete. I want to emphasise that to Senator Doyle. I recognise his particular constituency interest in this area in view of the tragedy that took place in his constituency but I want to emphasise to him that in the period since the Cremer and Warner report recommendations were made 95 per cent of them have been implemented.

All of the actions required in the recommendations on operating practices have been put in place and the rest of the CWL recommendations are targeted for completion in the coming weeks. Of course, some of the recommendations, for example training, clearly involve a sustained commitment. When I mention training I look forward within the next couple of weeks to going down to Dublin Gas and opening a whole new training operation they have in place there.

A very satisfactory level of progress has also been achieved on the VEG recommendations following a technical audit of the Dublin Gas distribution system. That report was published by me last August. It was an internal report. The aspect of safety is of such concern to the people of Dublin that, when parts of it were leaked, I published the whole document, something that is not normally done, but I wanted to involve the people of Dublin in the whole report and in the safety of their gas network.

There were ten short term recommendations on priority network improvements and these are now 80 per cent complete and will be finished by mid-1988 as required. The other medium and long term network recommendations are well under way and will be completed within the proposed three year target of the report. It was the VEG who set out the targets and we will meet those targets.

The report of the task force on multi-storey buildings which was prepared for the Minister for the Environment contained 30 recommendations directed at Dublin Gas in addition to those which are a matter for the Minister for the Environment. I am delighted to be able to say that the Dublin Gas recommendations are already 50 per cent complete, and all of them will be completed within the anticipated three year schedule. I can also inform the House that the Government have now approved the circulation of the Bill of the Minister for the Environment on multi-storey buildings which was a question raised by Senator Doyle. It is on its way.

Dublin Gas have made commendable progress on the implementation of all of the recommendations of these reports — in so far as these are for Dublin Gas to implement — and they are completing all the required actions on or ahead of the publicly declared schedules.

The principal areas of good progress during 1987 included: Placing in position a competent and disciplined technical organisation at all levels; work practices in the four operating Departments have been improved through re-organisation and training; the over-riding importance of safety is not accepted as a first priority: Dublin Gas are well on the way towards establishing a complete computerised record on every gas pipe in the city; the first complete leak survey of the 2,600 kilometres network has been completed and a second survey is already 50 per cent complete; Dublin Gas have surveyed around every public building in the city; because of their higher priority, Dublin Gas have already surveyed around every apartment block on four separate occasions. Dublin Gas have internally surveyed over 14,000 apartments and are awaiting access to 2,000 more.

Every bridge crossing has been surveyed, and several other special purpose surveys — for example, mains close to buildings — are in course of completion; the results of all the surveys, and of all leak reports, are now carefully recorded on drawings and on computer for appropriate remedial action; approval has been given for the construction of a new main to allow the decommissioning of 22 kilometres of the existing pipeline along the DART railway line. The remaining sections of pipeline will be upgraded by the insertion of new plastic pipes.

The pipe replacement programme is now fully mobilised. During 1987, 21 kilometres were replaced and inserted and six kilometres taken out of service. It is expected that, in 1988, about 100 kilometres of mains will be replaced — this is well up to the level which the task force recommended. So far this year 20 kilometres have been replaced.

The mains and services replacement programme is proceeding as quickly as possible consistent with the need to establish appropriate priorities to ensure that the most serious cases are dealt with first. Over 5,000 customers had their services renewed in 1987 and 1,000 more already in 1988 are well up to the task force's target.

Another problem was the loss of gas due to leakage at joints. Mains conditioning, through injection of MEG and through spray and drain operations, has been continued at a high level and this has clearly reduced the losses. As well as that, a programme of improvement of governor operations, leading to finer control of gas pressures in the network, is also helping to reduce lost gas. Odorisation practices have been rationalised between BGE and Dublin Gas and significantly improved — this is a particularly important aspect of gas safety.

Last October I launched a portfolio of National Gas standards covering all aspects of the supply and use of natural gas and Liquid Petroleum Gas. Dublin Gas operating procedures have been fundamentally reviewed in the light of these standards and there is no room now for doubt or ambiguity on technical requirements. The Operating Practices Manual has been totally revised and updated. Leak classification and repair procedures have been thoroughly reviewed to achieve the safest practices in that area. Emergency procedures have also been updated.

An extensive programme of training has been completed and a new training school has just been built. In 1987 there were 1,260 man-days of training. In 1988 it is estimated there will be 4,000 such man-days.

Another important element in gas safety is public awareness. A comprehensive campaign has been launched and reminders on the key safety rules have been sent to every customer, as well as to the caretakers of multi-occupancy buildings such as apartment blocks, hospitals, etc. The safety brochure Natural Gas in the Home has been delivered to 240,000 households, including noncustomers and a schools campaign is under way. At every long weekend there have been safety messages in the newspapers and on the radio. The TV campaign is now on the air, and will continue as necessary through the cold season.

The target time limit for attending to reports of gas leaks is one hour — which is internationally recognised as standard for good gas industry practice — and this is achieved in over 80 per cent of cases. Constant improvement is being sought. All responses outside the one hour criterion are investigated. All non-emergency calls are dealt with by appointment. Attention to customer needs has improved considerably, and Dublin Gas are continuing in their attempts to improve their performance in this area.

A number of areas are receiving specific attention. Access to premises is very important. Where there are doubts about safety, and where access to a premises is not readily available, the gas supply will be cut off. Further emphasis is being placed on quality control, on odorisation and on the enhancement of the management information system. The number of gas-related holes in the streets of Dublin which peaked at approximately 1,000 has now decreased to a running average of less than 100.

I want to take this opportunity in Seanad Éireann to say that the Gas Company are not responsible for every hole dug in the streets of the city of Dublin and the parts of the county that have gas. There are a whole lot of other utilities — the corporation, county council, Bord Telecom, Uncle Tom Cobley and all — but every hole dug in the city is blamed on the Gas Company. I want to emphasise that while there were 1,000 at one time, the average is now less than 100 citywide and countywide, some of which are there for a couple of hours only before being closed again.

Finally, Senators may be interested to know that 1987 sales of gas in Dublin were 81 million therms, approximately the same as the 1986 figure. However, the mix of premium and non-premium sales has improved significantly. The recent central heating campaign has been very successful, and will impact favourably on 1988 sales. It is also noteworthy that customer numbers are now increasing following a period of reducing numbers early in 1987.

I take this opportunity, a Chathaoirligh, to thank you for giving me the opportunity to put these very positive results of the activities of the past 12 months in the Department of Energy on the record of this House.

The Seanad adjourned at 8.15 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, 3 March 1988.