Mr. Owen Wilson:

I am not sure I agree with the Deputy on the slow progress regarding the single electricity market. The single electricity market is almost unique in Europe in terms of integrating two markets in two different member states with a common set of rules.

In that context, we are significantly more advanced on the European project than are many other parts of Europe. The critical factor in respect of the single electricity market is there now is a European-wide market with a different design and over the next two years, there will be a challenge in moving from our current design of electricity market to the European model. The current design of the Irish electricity market suits the Irish market particularly well given its relatively isolated nature, the significantly increasing use of renewables at present and, ultimately, the provision of all electricity from renewables given that legislatively, nuclear energy and carbon capture and storage have been prohibited. Ireland has only one of the three options available to it. The key will be to ensure that the European market model evolves into a type of model that will facilitate the penetration of high levels of variable generation, that will be able to manage that and that will remunerate all the actors in this sector. At present, it is proving difficult to do this within the European model. Again, Ireland is at the forefront playing a pioneering role and, again, we must articulate our particular experience at a European level.