I am far from satisfied with the information the Minister has given to the House. The Minister is speaking for the Minister for the Environment, but his reply seems to be in the past tense rather than providing protection for the future.

A question, please, Deputy.

That is coming. I have to point out the context in which it is coming. Is the Minister aware that we are embarking on a plant which will pump out 70,000 tonnes of sulphur dioxide, contravening EC regulations, without any desulphurising or sulphur recovering process at that plant? I refer to Money-point. The acid rain, sulphur dioxide and nitrous oxide will increase by 50 per cent at that stage. Will the Minister use his good offices to enable the ESB to acquire a grant from the EC to install sulphur recovery equipment at that plant?

The discussion on major plants is at Council of Ministers level. No agreement has been reached on what the levels should or should not be. Until they come to some sort of arrangement the question of a grant from the EC is not on. They have not yet reached a conclusion on what the controls should be. Collectively we have not agreed. Various countries have their own stand-points. We are endeavouring to hammer out a common policy for the Ten on emissions from heavy combustion plants and how they should be controlled. There are serious cost implications, as the Deputy is aware, with regard to the price of electricity.

That is why I spoke about a grant.

That could be used as a bargaining ploy across the table. I would not like to say a grant will be forthcoming. We will not be behind the door in looking for a grant if a grant is available. The discussion has not reached that stage yet. A common formula has not been found. Different countries have different attitudes. Some of the big industrial countries have pretty strong views on this matter.

A final supplementary.

Obviously the Minister is not aware that a final agreement has been reached as and from January of this year. That is why I raised this point. I am sure the Minister is aware that a similar plant in Saxony in Germany was refused planning permission because it would have produced huge quantities of sulphur dioxide. Bearing in mind the fact that Moneypoint is at an advanced stage, the Department should be seeking a grant for sulphur recovery.

No agreement has been reached. What member countries do about their own planning permissions is a matter for themselves. No agreement has been reached by the Council of Ministers on this issue. Up to December last no conclusion has been reached. I believe that at the next meeting in March no conclusion will be reached. It is an ongoing situation.