Alex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

That is what we want to do. I will try to answer some of the other questions. The Deputy asked a good question in respect of expertise. He asked whether the Department and the CER have a sufficient number of technical experts. I do not believe we have had enough, but in this year's provision we have clearance to employ new experts in the area of energy and energy economics and all of the professional and technical areas so as to be able to build a proper policy for the country. We have already employed some new people this year and will employ more. The CER also has clearance to employ more staff. It needs more staff to do this job for the community.

The Deputy queried the component costs of energy prices. The carbon price has reduced across the board.