Energy debate is near critical mass Susan Daly makes a very strong case for opening the nuclear debate in Ireland in her article in the Weekend Review 'We really need to talk about the N-word', (February 28).

I would like to add one very important point to her argument, and it concerns a topic that is dear to all of our hearts at the moment -- cost.

I anticipate many people might expect me to say that the cost of nuclear is prohibitive, but I do not intend to. Instead, may I outline some of the cost of not going nuclear?

Our current policy for reducing greenhouse emissions is to erect a very large number of wind turbines. The Minister for Energy has announced that those fortunate people who have enough land for a wind turbine will be paid 19 cents by the ESB for every unit produced.

And this is when the average price that the ESB normally pays for electricity is only around eight cents! Who pays the extra 11 cents? Why -- the people of Ireland, who own the ESB. We are all subsidising the wealthy landowner and his electricity.

Duncan Stewart recently said that wind operators should get 22 cents per unit for this wonderful "free" resource. I am not making this up.

If the resource was so wonderful and free, why does it cost more than double that of regular electricity?

And the alternative, equally low-carbon but much more reliable, source of electricity is nuclear power.

Our UK neighbours studied this in detail recently and discovered that nuclear power ends up being only half the cost of wind power when all the costs are considered (including the cost of decommissioning and of storing the spent fuel).

Our own Commission for Energy Regulation concluded recently that financial supports will probably have to be given to both the wind electricity generators and the non-wind generators in our wind energy plan.

I do not believe that Ireland is either willing or able to accept huge increases in our electricity charges for the luxury of wind energy, when we could save tens of billions of euro by going nuclear.

Well done, Susan, for raising this important topic -- let the debate begin!