Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The biggest concern I have about the LNG terminal or the facility generally is that it is new investment in new infrastructure as opposed to stretching or seeing a timeline on existing infrastructure. If we bring somebody in to invest today we hope that we only needed it for the next ten to 15 years, but with the kind of investment that is needed for a facility like that, they are captured, and ultimately it will be used for far longer than is necessary. This goes back to the question I wanted to ask originally, which is about the concern that we are looking at mothballing some existing infrastructure such as Moneypoint. It is being wound down ahead of schedule and yet it is clear there is potential for blackouts. I do not know if potential for blackouts is because we underestimated electricity demand some time ago when we made these decisions, or whether the demand has increased greater than expected. Perhaps we have not been able to bring on as many renewables or we have not been able to extend that. Maybe it is the complex market situation we use that is not delivering. I do not know. I am trying to understand from Dr. McGowan if the complex market system that we operate, which is the all-island system, is fit for purpose at the moment in light of the developing situation where there is potential for blackouts. Dr. McGowan rightly identified the narrowing gap between demand and supply, and the amount of supply of renewable electricity with an ageing infrastructure. What sort of clarity can the commission give us in the short term on the avoidance of blackouts? Nobody knows when the wind is going to park and for how long, and I do not expect Dr. McGowan to turn into a weather forecaster for us, but can he give us some idea about the risk? What risk analysis has the commission done by looking at patterns in weather events that existed in the past? We do this all of the time with regard to flooding, looking at 100-year events and so on. Is there a person within the commission or within EirGrid who is plotting, to some extent, the potential for a blackout, the length of time a blackout might be, and the impact it would have on our economy let alone on our reputation? What real emergency powers does the commission have or can it take some emergency measures very quickly to address the situation? What kinds of other standby facilities is the commission tendering for to ensure they are there even at a cost?