Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank our guests for attending and for providing us with this information. I have a number of questions. The first of which is for the CER. While energy prices, in terms of gas and oil, have dropped and we have more renewable energy on stream, customers are not benefiting from the reduction in energy prices. My electricity bill continues to increase every year despite the fact that we are using the same amount of electricity. My neighbours would say the same thing. Household energy bills are increasing. The wholesale energy price has dropped significantly - by in the region of 30% - but the customer is not feeling the benefit of that reduction. What is the CER doing about that?

On the issue of the programme and the reference to a concern about over-reach, are different regulatory bodies in the 28 member states co-operating in terms of trying to do something about that? There are benefits to being in the programme but we do not want the big foot of Europe to come down too heavy on us. What level of co-operation is there around that?

Having met the representatives of the ESB and having different contacts in it, while there is much talk about buying into renewables, the company would still seem to be overdependent - in the future it will be overdependent - on a small number of big generation sources. There will be thousands of electricity generation sources in the future. Unless I am missing something, I do not believe the ESB is moving quickly enough towards bringing those sources on stream and tapping into more and smaller sources of renewable energy. The representatives of the ESB might indicate where the company stands in terms of smart meters.

Regarding a green bond scheme - I know the ESB operates a scheme of this type - there is a major problem in rolling it out. A deep retrofit programme is being discussed and we know it is needed. We have retrofitted a great number of houses that were built in the past 30 or 40 yeas, but many houses were built 60 or 100 years ago and we all know they are more difficult to retrofit and carry out energy upgrades on, even though there are new technologies and new building materials available. I refer, for example, to insulated plaster slabs, which are God's gift. Such schemes are not being rolled out. We need to have a big idea in that respect and to have a big push to promote insulation. There is a scheme in place providing for the external house insulation, but the work involved is difficult, expensive and I am not convinced about the wisdom of putting sponge-like material on the outside of buildings, particularly in view of the fact that we have a wet climate. I am not sure if we are seriously focused on promoting internal insulation to keep houses warm. An imaginative scheme in terms of a green bond initiative, initiated by the SEAI and the ESB, is needed. In other words, if a household's electricity bill is €150 every two months and if the owners have improved their insulation, their electricity bill would fall to €100 every two months and the €50 they saved could be paid off the sum required to do that work. Such schemes operates in other jurisdictions. I would like the representatives from the ESB to comment on that. matter. The representatives from the CER or the SEAI can also comment on it if they wish.

My next question is for EirGrid. The French are fairly keen on having the Celtic interconnector. It was stated that it would cost approximately €1 billion. Will that cost be split evenly, namely, €500 million paid by our little State and €500 million by the much larger state of France? Do we have the option of securing EU funding for the project, given that we will be very peripheral, particularly when the Brits perform a kamikaze manoeuvre and move away from the EU? Can we make a case for EU funding for that project?

The issue of tariffs in the context of Brexit is a concern. I refer to tariffs applying to electricity sources coming into the country but also applying to electricity sources in terms of trying to maintain the single market for electricity on the island, which has been operating well for the past ten years. Should we be seeking special status for the North within the European Union? We know that the North will be dragged out of the Union against its will in the aftermath of Brexit. Should we be pursuing the goal of the Six Counties retaining special status within the European Union?