Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman. My primary questions are to EirGrid. I was also going to ask about timelines for the grid as grid capacity is always an area raised with me as a potential risk. If there is a plan, timelines are put in or else there is far too high a risk of overruns. I am concerned it will take EirGrid a year to get those timelines into a document where it could be tracked so we would know where we are at any point in time and whether any of the projects have been delayed.

On Mr. Foley's other comment on the west coast and exploiting the offshore wind and how it is a future project, it is a really big project to get under way. From EirGrid's perspective, does it have enough resources to deal with the increased challenges it faces and increased programmes it faces? A year is quite a significant time to take to produce a table with all timelines for different projects.

Bringing it back to consultation and engagement, I note he mentioned the offshore team is working closely with the developers of the phase 1 and phase 2 projects.

My understanding is a grid connection assessment process has started for phase 1 projects and quite a lot of detailed engagement is required as part of that. Project managers have been requesting clarity on specific aspects of that, such as the operations and maintenance requirements EirGrid would have, the design review process, and the actual functional specifications EirGrid requires, but I understand this clarity is not being provided and there is no engagement or insufficient engagement, consultation or meetings taking place. When will EirGrid make that clarity available to the industry? Will it meet with industry representatives in the near future? I believe this all has to conclude by August. Investors need clarity when it comes to these large investments.

I may have picked this up wrong, but is there a disconnect between what the storage industry is talking about in terms of requirements and what EirGrid believes are the storage requirements? It could be the case I picked it up wrong and the types of storage are different. However, EirGrid is talking about 1,000 MW of medium- to long-term battery storage while I think the industry mentioned 1,900 MW. That is a significant difference. What is the reason for that? Does the industry believe Shaping Ireland’s Energy Future reflects EirGrid's needs?