Mr. Garrett Blaney:

I will take the first part and let Ms Pyper talk about the second part. With regard to losses, there is no indication of this from anything we have seen. The AC line proposed by EirGrid which is the subject of the planning application is a fairly standard one. It is the same as the AC lines we have across the country. It is a 400 kV line, similar to the ones running from Moneypoint across to Dublin. There is no indication that the losses are any different from those we have around the rest of the country. It is fairly clear from what we have seen that if we moved to an underground DC configuration, losses would be increased. There would be an increased cost to consumers in losses.

I will hand over to Ms Pyper with regard to the general discussion on Northern Ireland. The broad principle of the single electricity market is that generators are free to go wherever they want on the island that is most efficient for them. If one wants to build a large coal-fired plant and the largest deep-sea port is on the Shannon, one goes to the Shannon. If Mayo is the best place for wind resources, one goes there. If one wants to look at solar energy and solar energy is best in the south east, one goes there. Where generators sit on the system generally is unconstrained. I will hand over to Ms Pyper to talk about the specifics of Northern Ireland.