Mr. Paul Blount:

I reiterate and emphasise the point that Mr. Cunniffe was making about the importance of a blend to enable the installed capacity targets to be met.

In many respects, the grid is a key enabler of competition. If we are to deliver this transition at the least cost to consumers, the grid is what will enable competition. By going for a blend of the options that EirGrid has put forward, we enable the competition that will allow transition to be delivered at least cost and with the ability to flex to the higher levels of ambition that I expect will inevitably come. I really want to emphasise that point. EirGrid has done the work and analysis on this and it is a case now of making the right decisions.

There can be a tendency to focus on the cost of providing the grid infrastructure. We need to start thinking of it as an investment that will enable cheaper forms of renewable energy to come onto the system. We must approach it with the kind of mindset that if there is underinvestment, the transition may become more expensive. We need to invest the right amount in order to create capacity and enable competition. The analogy I like to use is that failing to do this would be like investing huge sums of money in trains but investing nothing in the railway lines. That is where we are at on this issue. I thank the Deputy for his questions.