Clause 25
Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill
5:00 pm
I endorse the broad context of the remarks of the hon. Member for Tewkesbury. If time permitted, I should like to talk at length, as he did, not just about the content of the Bill, but about east-west connections between Britain and Ireland, and those with continental Europe. I shall forgo doing so, however.
The clause and the Bill implement an ambition on which all parties agreed when the Assembly was functioning. I sat on a committee there that moved forward energy issues. It had nothing to do with constitutional politics, and there did not seem to be any threat to anybody’s political interest.
The situation in Northern Ireland is serious. Historically, we have had severe stranded costs, caused by the privatisation of power stations and the setting of prices at levels that are much too high by today’s standards. The cost of producing electricity had dropped for a period, but now it may be going up again. The severe stranded costs will continue until 2010 or 2012. The clause probably does not go far enough, but I see it very much as opening a door to create the space for serious discussions, which the hon. Member for Tewkesbury referred to earlier in more depth. I would like those discussions to be pursued, because the island of Ireland as a whole has fewer than 2 million people in the north and 4 million in the south. We need 12 million people for a serious energy market. We have some connection with the grid in Scotland. We have a connector there, but it is fairly fully occupied and we need another connector. It could be between Wales and southern Ireland, or we could have a second connector between Northern Ireland and Scotland.
The clause is a prelude to such discussions, and it will facilitate their opening. It will create confidence for players in the market. Opening up and facilitating a discussion is the political intention of the House, and I think that the commercial interests want to see a clear indication that that is happening. From that point of view, I endorse and support the clause.