Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I missed most of the spoken submission but I looked at the written submission. I will follow up with Mr. Gannon on the question of out-of-market options. "Out of market" is another word for publicly-run options, where the State takes ownership and runs something rather than relying on the market. Does Mr. Gannon agree that given the scares we had recently about the national grid and supply, what he said about significant portions of our energy going to data centres - I do not know whether this was unforeseen or not - and the predictable increase in the number of data centres that will be planned and built throughout the country, an out-of-market or publicly-run renewable energy company would be the best option? It would make the commission's life easier and would guarantee supply, not just to industry and the economy, but to ordinary people who need to turn on the lights, to heat their homes and to have street lighting when they go out during the winter, and for hospitals and schools to run efficiently. Would he agree that some kind of a publicly-run utility that absolutely controls the production and supply of energy is what we need, like the old Electricity Supply Board, ESB?

I noted the submission stated that the cost of our domestic electricity was the highest in the EU. We used to have the lowest. We had the lowest prices when the ESB was in charge and before it was all salamied away to various companies. There is a problem with the model that states supply and demand will ensure efficiency. It is essential, particularly in critical infrastructure like the production and distribution of power to run society, that the State should be the main renewable energy company. The commission's representatives talked earlier about a developer-led offshore model, which would involve planning, design and development but they did not go on to say who would own and gain from it. There was a time when ESB International returned a significant amount of revenue to the State from the operations of its production abroad. As Deputy Bruton said, if we are to be seen as an exporter of renewables, surely that revenue should be coming back to the State rather than going to private companies.

I would like the witness to answer a simple question-----