Mr Allister: Of course it is right to acknowledge and commend the derogation on the carbon floor issue, which is beneficial. However, this superficial and largely self-congratulatory motion speaks only to a very small part of the energy story in Northern Ireland.

 

The truth, which the motion does not address, is that the cornerstone of the Minister's policy, namely the single electricity market, is failing. It was introduced on the premise and with the promise that, through competition, it was going to level and reduce prices and create an altogether better consumer situation in Northern Ireland.

 

Indeed, before the single electricity market was introduced, the trajectory of electricity prices in Northern Ireland was towards coalescence with the lower prices in GB. Since it has been introduced, the trajectory is towards coalescence with the higher prices in the Republic of Ireland and away from the lower prices in GB. That speaks failure not success. In my opinion, it is down, in large measure, to the fact that, under the single electricity market, we have seen wholesale electricity prices not fall but rise to far too high a level. That has happened because of a mix of two things. First, competition is not working; it is not even there effectively. Secondly, there has been a lack of investment in new, efficient power stations for Northern Ireland.

 

The House would do well to remind itself of some of the monopolies that were created under the single electricity market. There was a time when NIE, before it was owned by the ESB, was forced to sell Systems Operator Northern Ireland to prevent NIE having a potentially dominant position in the Northern Ireland market. Who did it sell it to? It sold it to EirGrid, the state-owned system in the Republic of Ireland. Who then bought NIE? It was the Republic of Ireland state-owned ESB. So, we end up with precisely the monopoly situation that was meant to be stripped put of Northern Ireland, and yet we are surprised that from monopoly does not flow competition or a lowering of prices. The single electricity market has proved to be a monopolist's charter controlled from the Irish Republic.

 

Things are set to get worse. At the end of 2015, Ballylumford B has to go out of production. In 2016, Kilroot has to drop its production by 50%. There is no sign of any indigenous replacement of generation capacity in Northern Ireland, only more dependence on the ESB generation of the Republic, where, of course, focus and attention is on building the generation capacity of the South. What is the Minister's response? It is to help them by putting all our eggs in the North/South interconnector so that they can better sell their electricity to us. Let us happily ignore the fact that the other interconnector, the Moyle interconnector, is largely redundant at times. It breaks down and is not being replaced or renewed. The consumer will most likely have to pay the repair costs because of the insurance problems that have emerged.

 

Where is the Minister's vision and focus on getting us properly interconnected to GB? The Moyle interconnector is not doing the job adequately. I say respectfully to the Minister that, if she put half the focus on improving the Moyle interconnector that she puts on the North/South interconnector, she would begin to bring an opportunity of balance to the market and begin to tackle and attack the monopoly that exists under the single electricity market. I remind the House —

 

Mr Deputy Speaker: Will the Member to bring his remarks to a close?

 

Mr Allister: — that Lord Whitty's report recognised that we are not getting a fair deal under the single electricity market. It is time that the Minister recognised that and acted on it.