Mr. Jim Gannon:

On Deputy Dooley's point around natural gas facilities, as it happens quite a number of the pipes in the ground in Ireland are high density polyethylene, HDPE. Although designed for natural gas, with an appropriate risk assessment they would be quite comfortable carrying substituted hydrogen or quite a bit of hydrogen. It is not beyond the bounds of commercial or technical possibility that gas terminals that would help us to supply security and diversity of supply could not also be designed to be converted over time to using hydrogen or other molecules and not just straight up natural gas. Again, the investment signal could perhaps precipitate something like that. It is worth keeping that in mind.

With regard to the different powers and the options open to us, it is core to our mandate and explicitly called out in legislation that the commission has significant powers to secure a security of supply within Ireland. That is a national competency.

I will now turn to the types of measures we are considering in the short to medium term.

For reasons I have outlined previously, trying to secure emergency generation is a quite reflexive and responsive measure that, along with other measures, will contribute to reducing a security and supply risk this winter. In the medium term, we will move from a short-term response, such as the one we have outlined, to a longer-term response. On the longer-term response, over the next six months and into January and February of next year, we will execute three capacity auction rounds in the single electricity market with the utility regulator. These are the T-1, which looks to get generation in place and invested in for next winter, 2022-23, and the T-3 and T-4, which will look for investment in three and four years' time. Within that sort of window, contracts can be executed that bring new generation to the table or that retain and get investment in existing generation to provide the type of capacity that is needed. That is one of the measures.

On existing capacity, we do not just tempt in new capacity with the capacity mechanism. We also provide exit signals for plant that might be at the end of its useful life and might find it harder to put in place the type of investment to compete on the open market. At the single electricity market level, we not only consider bringing new plant in but also what plant may exit. A key piece for us is to look at the generation capacity statement, GCS, which is the core piece that EirGrid and the System Operator for Northern Ireland, SONI, supply to the single electricity market. This outlines what demand and supply will look like over the course of the next ten years, how much we will need and that we will need to secure it. The capacity mechanism can look at that in the medium term.

We also have different out-of-market options available to us should they be needed to keep facilities online but we are not there yet. That does not mean we are not preparing options to execute should they be needed. The capacity remuneration mechanism is there for the medium to long term. We can set signals to bring more people in but also to have more confidence in them delivering that pipeline. There are out-of-market options in the shorter term, one of which we are looking to exercise in securing winter capacity for this winter. We believe that we have the power and, working collectively with EirGrid under its security of supply obligations and with the Department, there are sufficient options to mitigate risk. I am not sure if I covered all what was asked. I hope I did.