Mr. Padraic O'Connell:

I will start with Senator Mark Daly's questions. He asked about the LNG project and the possibilities associated with it. We would welcome the development because it would improve security of supply. Gas Networks Ireland has supported Shannon LNG in its applications for EU funding in that regard in the past 12 months. Gas Networks Ireland is also looking at developing renewable energy technologies in the gas industry, one of which involves the use of bio-gas. It captures methane created in the agriculture and food industries and supplies it to the gas network. There will be the first injection point on the gas network this year and there is the potential to meet to 20% of the demand for gas in time.

Senator Paul Daly asked how dependent the United Kingdom was on the EU. The United Kingdom gets about 35% of its gas supply from the North Sea, 35% from Norway, 20% from LNG tankers and 10% via interconnectors from mainland Europe. As Ms Madden said, there is an installed capacity in the gas network of 140%. If one were to take out any one of these pieces of infrastructure in a catastrophic event, the United Kingdom would still have the capability to meet demand and Ireland would play its part.

Senator Paul Daly asked about the worst case scenario in planning. It is part and parcel of the work we and Eirgrid do on a daily basis. It is part of our remit as a network operator. We work very closely with the national grid to scenario-plan. We engage in planning every year for emergency cases. The gas sector in the United Kingdom has an installed capacity of 140%.

In response to Senator O'Reilly's question on EirGrid and not negotiating on energy, I am the co-chair of the Gas Infrastructure Europe Brexit working group or task force and that is one of our key findings. In all essence, energy is almost a human right. It is a fundamental part of life, it is around us everywhere and in Gas Infrastructure Europe, we do not think it should be used as a negotiating chip in any negotiations between Europe and the UK.