Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. O'Rourke for his service. I should say I appointed him to be chair of Enterprise Ireland, where he did a fantastic job. I just wish to acknowledge that. I believe he is really well suited to the challenge we are taking on here.

I have just a few questions. We have seen our ambition for renewables on our grid go from 55% to 70% now. As we enhance our ambition, what will be the challenges of going beyond 70% renewables on our network and how do we prepare for them?

My second question concerns the ESB's wider potential role in tackling the climate challenge. It is the largest State player by a country mile in terms of its scale and reach. What does the ESB see as its role in leveraging change behaviour on a much wider basis than simply day-to-day responsibilities? I refer, for example, to encouraging companies to do audits of their carbon impact, and how they could work with the ESB as a provider to reduce that, and to using the roll-out of the ESB's smart meters to help customers and quickly get them thinking about how they can reduce their impact. It seems to me that the ESB will be a strategic player from the point of view not just of what it is doing from day to day but also of mobilising private capital, whether individual homeowners, companies or whatever else, and indeed the public sector, which is not always exemplary. I would be interested to hear how the witnesses would see that wider role being developed and whether the ESB's existing legislative remit recognises sufficiently the capacity the company may have for leading change.