Mr. John Melvin:

With regard to smart metering, the communications technology currently being rolled out for the smart meters is a 2G technology, which is more readily available than some of the 4G. It has a wider coverage area than 4G. In addition, the meter will record what happens. If one is in an area with bad 2G coverage the meter will record the information every half hour. The communications piece is whether it uploads it every day. It is not that one will not necessarily have the ability to measure one's consumption every half hour, but how regularly the information is transferred back to ESB Networks' IT system and on to the person's supplier. Some of the benefits will still be available even if one is in an area without good coverage.

The cyber attacks piece is a significant part of the technical requirements that all of the entities across Europe that are rolling out smart meters must take seriously. I do not have the costs amount associated with that, but it is a significant part of the system design. It is cyber secure by design in the same way privacy is protected by design. It is a significant part of the roll-outs of smart metering across Europe. It is a serious issue and it is one of all the costs involved in rolling this out properly.