Ms Aoife MacEvilly:

Smart meters constitute an exciting story. We are starting to reach a critical mass of installed meters. ESB Networks is rolling out approximately 40,000 per week so we are on course to have the national roll-out complete by 2024, which is exciting. The opportunity presented by smart services for consumers to lower their bills and participate in decarbonisation is already there. All suppliers are required to offer time-of-use tariffs and many customers are switching to these. This presents the opportunity for electric vehicle owners to charge overnight at much lower rates and to keep away from peak times. It also provides an opportunity for us to measure what is being exported by micro-generation and renewable self-consumers. It opens up an opportunity for customers to really be part of the transition and save money by lowering their bills.

The CRU is proposing to promote the uptake of smart services in the coming year, now that we are getting that critical mass of smart meter stock in place. Suppliers are engaging directly with their customers offering these services. What the options are will become much clearer to customers. As Mr. Foley mentioned, there is an opportunity for ESB Networks to start purchasing services at a local level to support matters, be it meeting peak demand or facilitating wind. It really starts to gain traction at that stage.

The Deputy asked about our perspective on hydrogen. This is another area of opportunity for Ireland Inc. There is potential with large-scale offshore wind to think about what we could do as a nation - becoming not just a user of green hydrogen but potentially an exporter in the future. That is why, as we look at investment in gas generation for the next few decades, the natural gas grid to support that or import facilities, we must also keep our eye on the potential for converting that infrastructure for future hydrogen use so that we take a long-term decarbonisation perspective as we make those investments.