The Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, said Fine Gael's spokesman was making "very serious accusations" about the ESB. Mr Jim Higgins had asked during Public Enterprise questions if the five emergency generators the ESB leased from the US cost £10 million or £20 million.
"Is it true that the ESB staff did not read the technical detail too closely, with the result that the £10 million quoted figure for the lease reflects the initial payment only and that a second £10 million had to be paid as soon as the equipment was installed on the site?"
He also asked if the engineers did "not read the detail of the fuel specification too closely". Mr Higgins asked if the engineers "assumed diesel was the fuel to be used and that only recently have they discovered that to meet the technical requirements of the fuel specification the ESB will now have to supply aero kerosene as the fuel at considerably increased cost if it has to switch on the generators."
The Minister said she did not have the information on any of those points because "they are entirely technical. I will find out all the details, including the cost of the five generators." Ms O'Rourke said the ESB had told her the cost of the generators was £10 million and she would have to ask about it.
Mr Higgins suggested there was "a manifest lack of planning" that expensive emergency measures had to be used because "we simply do not have adequate generation capacity in the grid to supply the minimum needs of the country" at a time when there were 38,000 new customers every year and a 6 per cent increase in demand for electricity.
Ms O'Rourke said she would be very pleased with the ESB for taking the emergency measures needed. The chairman of the ESB had given her "a categoric assurance" that there would not be a shortfall in the electricity supply this winter.