Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The witnesses are welcome. Their joint presentation has reassured me that business will rise above politics and that Brexit will do whatever Brexit does but business will continue to be transacted across the globe. Their presentation was very welcome. They are not hanging about waiting to see who wins and who loses; they are ensuring the future of their businesses, which is important.

Many institutions in this country are now cross-Border. Under the Good Friday Agreement, we have Waterways Ireland and Gas Networks Ireland and electricity supply moving North and all that. Is there anything that is a pinch-point now for the witnesses that we could work through the provisions of the Good Friday Agreement to get around? I am concerned, as this Brexit process rolls on, that politicians are looking at the macro issue, so to speak, but the witnesses are interested in the micro issues on the ground. If there is anything in that respect that is important to them, they might allude to that.

On the risk to supply, when we talk about interconnectors we are talking about a central point and the risk to supply across all three areas is something that is of concern to me. In 2016, I wrote a piece about the implementation of a border in Ireland following the referendum. I could see no way that we would get by without some sort of border, be it soft or hard. As we draw closer to 31 October, I see that becoming a hard border.

I have spent some time in Northern Ireland and I am concerned about the security aspect of Brexit, the part we all hope will not happen. With single points of supply, interconnectors running across borders and so on, have the witnesses taken on board the security implications of that supply and the infrastructure required? I refer to the policing of it. Do they believe they will need military personnel to manage the infrastructure on the ground or will they bring in private companies to do that for them? I am concerned about that.

I do not want to stray off the Brexit theme but two issues cross my mind. We were talking about carbon tax. There is much debate here about whether carbon tax is the way to go or whether we should offer incentives to encourage people to move away from carbon-generated energy supply. If the witnesses have something to say on that, I would be interested to hear it.

Now that we have an interconnector coming from France, I am sure some people here will be looking at whether electricity is generated through nuclear power stations and the like. Some people will be concerned about that so we might as well be upfront and tell them straight if it is involved.

People refer constantly to electric vehicles and the like. I believe we will have arrived with electric vehicles when I can pull into a petrol station, take out a battery, put in another one and be on my way in three and a half minutes. If I have to sit for two hours while the battery is charging, forget it. For the average long-distance traveller, that will not work. I would be interested to hear the witnesses' views on that.

My key question is the security in all three cases. I know the witnesses have supply coming in, for example, in Wexford, for the wind turbines. How vulnerable are those if we face a terrorist incident in this country again?