Call to protect energy supplies

RADICAL steps to protect the nation’s energy supplies have been called for in a submission on the next National Development Plan 2007-2013.

On-shore oil reserves should be boosted from a 45-day supply to a 90-day one in line with international practice, Engineers Ireland said in a submission to the Department of Finance.

It also calls for the extension of gas reserves beyond the current 15-day back up and the setting up of an all-Ireland energy market.

The engineering body also said that the appointment of a single regulator to take charge of the on-going energy needs of the entire island also made sense.

In a wide-ranging submission, Engineers Ireland also suggested the establishment of a new court to minimise delays in getting projects completed.

Director general of Engineers Ireland Kevin Kernan said: “The current situation is a cause of concern from both a security and cost viewpoint.”

He said an all-island regulator should develop a long-term plan for the security and sustainability of energy supply on the island.

This should be done at minimum cost, to maximise the use of alternative energies, and to minimise the production of greenhouse gasses produced in the energy cycle, he said.

The submission singles out waste management as a major black spot. “With the imminent closure of several landfills and no thermal treatment plants yet in operation, Ireland is facing a waste management crisis,” it warned.

Water services provision failed to meet the targets of the first NDP and the document calls for the imposition of charges on all water users, including domestic ones.

While the Strategic Infrastructure Bill to speed up planning was welcome, Engineers Ireland warned that without associated changes in the judicial process it could fail. For that reason, the submission called for “a special Infrastructure Court, along the lines of the Commercial Court”.

Mr Kernan also noted Ireland was at “the end of a very long gas pipe line from Russia”. Security of energy supplies was a “fundamental issue” for the entire island and for cost and other reasons it made sense to tackle the issue on an all-Ireland basis, he said.

Another concern was the lack of policy co-ordination within government. It went ahead with decentralisation with scant reference to the National Spatial Strategy. “That was not a good example of joined up government,” he said.