Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I support the measures proposed for the legislation. While I acknowledge that this is legally complex, the Minister referred to trading North and South and the benefits we all derive from that. Can he give an update on the position regarding the North-South interconnector? It has been planned for the past 15 or 20 years. It has been stuck in our planning system and is now stuck in the political system in the North. I understand the absence of an Executive or Assembly may threaten its urgent delivery. Is it true that the North is in danger of blackouts and this is costing €30 million annually? Last week, the High Court in Belfast made a decision that may force the project to go back to planning, although I am unsure of the mechanism involved. Does the Minister have a note or update on this?

More broadly, I asked Mr. Manley about UK wholesale prices. My recollection was that they were 50% above the north-west European average wholesale electricity price. When I checked the latest figures the sterling price converts to approximately 75 cent, while the EU wholesale price is roughly 50 cent when rounded up. The UK electricity market has been 50% more expensive than those of its neighbours for some years. The risk for us in the medium to long term is that we will get tied into a UK regional electricity market because we are such close neighbours and there is an interconnection and cross-dependence because of the price of gas influencing our electricity price. Has the Minister had any dialogue with his counterparts in London, whether it is the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Mr. Greg Clark MP, or whoever is the key person now, about UK policy or strategy will take post Brexit?

If the UK continues to operate in isolation, its electricity prices will continue to be 50% higher than its continental competitors. Over time, that would result in the mass migration of the digital services industry which is very sensitive to electricity prices. Has the Minister been given any indication from the British side that the UK will seek to maintain membership of the North Sea offshore grid initiative which would result in much greater interconnection between Ireland, the UK, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium and France? The UK only has 4% interconnection now. If it was abiding by European rules, that figure would be 15%. Apart from that, if the UK wants to reduce its wholesale price, it must have a massive level of interconnection because building yet more nuclear power stations such as Hinkley Point will only make its system more expensive. From negotiations or discussions with the UK, does the Minister have any sense of Britain's medium or long-term objectives in the electricity market? If the UK decides to go isolated, there is a risk that we will be connected to an isolated system and we will import these high electricity prices which will place us at a disadvantage to our continental cousins. Has the Minister examined this as a medium-term strategic issue for the State?