Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I want to acknowledge and welcome the Minister. This was always going to be the great imponderable question, namely how we will work the single electricity market in the case of Brexit or even a hard Brexit and it is very welcome for us to be teasing out these issues. The Minister did mention that there was no issue on oil in particular and that we have sufficient supplies of oil. On the Whiddy Island complex, is it at full capacity in light of Brexit and where exactly is the capacity of that terminal, considering the unique standing it has in the State for fuel security and oil security in particular? It has been questioned down south whether it is at full capacity if it were to come to a hard Brexit. On the market itself and the volatility that could emerge, it is important that this legislation will try to ensure that there is no volatility. Have there been any negotiations at UK level on how we will come to this agreement? Could the Minister elaborate on how the mid-term view of this agreement will come about? Will it be a bilateral agreement or how does the Minister see these negotiations coming? Will they come through the European Union? Where and what will be the actors and where will the negotiations of this debate happen? Is a bilateral at this level the approach we will take or how does the Minister believe it will happen?

On the pricing structures, there would be a fear that a hard Brexit would increase prices to some degree.

This legislation gives the CRU power in that regard. Is the Minister concerned that there may be a price increase or does he believe the legislation will strengthen the hand of the CRU to ensure that the market will not have volatility?