Mr. Paul McDonald:

It is far from a box-ticking exercise. It is a process that takes at least six months or thereabouts. As I said in response to a question from Deputy Carthy, if a corporate body or individual seeks approval to run a scheme to operate as a system operator, that opportunity exists. If such bodies or individuals can show the Department their ability to reach the bar set from the point of view of corporate governance, a business plan, contingency funds and all of that, on that basis there is no question and it is not provided for in the regulations that the approval must be advertised. It is open at any stage for a corporate body to apply to become a system operator for this EPR scheme.