HC Deb 28 April 1994 vol 242 cc374-5
10. Mr. Home Robertson

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement about establishing an interconnector with the Scottish electricity grid.

Mr. Tim Smith

The proposed Northern Ireland Electricity interconnector will be the subject of public inquiries in both Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Mr. Home Robertson

Now that the Irish Republic's electricity supply board has dropped the proposal for a connection with the electricity system in Wales, will the Minister acknowledge that the interconnector between Ireland and Scotland will be beneficial, not only to Scotland's generation industry but to consumers in Northern Ireland—and possibly also to consumers in the Republic of Ireland, who will thereby gain access to extremely competitively priced Scottish electricity? Will the Minister be supporting the application to the European Community for Interreg funding for the interconnector with Scotland, and for the reinstatement of the grid linking Northern Ireland and the Republic?

Mr. Smith

I much agree with the hon. Gentleman. Northern Ireland's electricity system is isolated at the moment. I think that all the benefits that he describes will flow from the establishment of the interconnector, which will be supported by European funds.

Mr. Bill Walker

Does my hon. Friend agree that one of the great advantages of being part of the United Kingdom is the fact that the interconnector can plug into Scotland's capacity to export energy, and the fact that Northern Ireland could enjoy the benefits of that?

Mr. Smith

I entirely agree with my hon. Friend about the advantages that he describes for Scotland.

Mr. Foulkes

Will the Under-Secretary of State consider the possibility of having a conjoint public inquiry instead of separate ones in Northern Ireland and Scotland, as problems would arise if they reached different conclusions? Would it not be much better to have one reporter carrying out an inquiry into the whole interconnector and, one hopes, rejecting the entire proposal?

Mr. Smith

To the meet the hon. Gentleman's point, I understand that the reporter in Scotland and the inspector in Northern Ireland may well co-operate in the discussion and consideration of certain common issues.