Léim ar aghaidh chuig an bpríomhábhar
Gnáthamharc

Energy Resources.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 1 April 2004

Thursday, 1 April 2004

Ceisteanna (44)

Joe Costello

Ceist:

40 Mr. Costello asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources if he will make a statement on the outcome of the all-Ireland energy forum which he jointly hosted with the Northern Ireland Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment, Mr. Ian Pearson MP, in Drogheda on 12 March 2004. [10210/04]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

As the Deputy will probably know, the recent energy forum was organised on foot of a joint decision taken by the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment, Mr. Pearson, and myself at our bilateral meeting in December 2003. At that time we agreed that the electricity, gas and renewable energy industries and other interested parties should be informed about the work of the all-island energy market joint steering group, which we had established in 2003 to develop the all-island energy market. We were also anxious to engage key stakeholders in discussions on the development of a strategy to achieve that objective.

The forum itself consisted of a series of presentations on current key issues for the energy sector. Presentations were made by members of the joint steering group, the Commission for Energy Regulation, the Northern Ireland Authority for Energy Regulation, Sustainable Energy Ireland, the two grid operators and the IBEC-CBI Joint Business Council. The presentations were followed by a wide-ranging discussion on strategic issues concerning the development of an all-island energy market.

A key conclusion of the forum was that a high-level strategy paper should be prepared by the joint steering group. The strategy paper is expected to set out a shared understanding of what is meant by an "all-island energy market". The real challenge for the joint steering group is to translate that shared understanding into a realistic and achievable strategic work programme. The aim of the work programme would be to provide a framework for collaborative action by industry, regulatory authorities and the two Governments in working towards the goal of an all-island energy market. The strategy paper will also take account of ongoing exploratory work on issues such as electricity interconnection and the views expressed at the forum. There was general consensus that a repeat of the forum after an appropriate interval would be welcomed.

Barr
Roinn