Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The advertising spend of EirGrid is a very unusual spend, as far as I am concerned, considering that EirGrid does not have any competitors and its customers have no choice but to engage with it. It would appear that advertising spend would be strange. Over the five years leading up to, I think, 2019, EirGrid spent €8.6 million on what is described as selling and advertising. That is €8.1 million more than was approved by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU. Considering that the State is drawing down dividends of €4 million, that is proportionately a big spend on advertising. Does the Department have a view on the rationale for that or on the fact that it apparently was not approved? Does Mr. Griffin think that is a prudent use of the resources of the company?