Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses. My questions are quite specific. There has been a lot of talk about the demand site reduction and engaging with industry. How many dispatch instructions under the DS3 programme for demand site reduction have been issued over the past two years? What was the total amount in payments made by EirGrid to each entity in respect of the demand site reduction? The transition will not be costless. However, the public has a right to know how much it is paying industry to reduce its demand side. What mechanism is in place to ensure that each entity is in compliance with their agreed kWh demand reduction? The CRU said that if demand reduction is not met there are penalties for capacity remuneration. Are there the same penalties if it is found that an entity is not reducing its demand by the kWs that it had been, I think the EirGrid speaker said, "appropriately" remunerated for? What is the cost to the Exchequer of that intervention around managing the demand? My other question is on the Electricity Regulation Act 1999 and how it contradicts section 15 of the climate action Bill. I believe that CRU and EirGrid are obliged to take climate emissions into account, but the 1999 Act obliges them to authorise a demand connection agreement, without having to provide the environmental assessment or the cumulative emissions. Are changes needed, therefore, in the regulations under the 1999 Act, so that it is not just about fiscal and technical specificities, but takes into account the environmental impact and the cumulative emissions on our energy targets?