Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

At the outset, I found this session incredibly informative, insightful and very interesting, particularly in and around the discussion on storage capacity. It answers those detractors to renewable energy who ask what we will do when the wind does not blow and the sun does not shine. There are clearly some pretty advanced solutions out there we can start looking towards. I also note the area of energy use and conserving energy.

This question is specifically for EirGrid. If other witnesses also want to contribute, they should please feel free to do so. Since the escalation of the price of fuel and energy, we have heard comments and statements by other Oireachtas Members within the walls of Leinster House such as that in order to ensure energy security, we should look at doing things like reopen the bogs, encourage the return of peat-powered energy stations, build liquefied natural gas, LNG, terminals, and ramp up oil and gas exploration of our own coast. These are all approaches with which I fundamentally disagree, by the way, and from which we should stay clear. I believe we should absolutely now focus on ramping up renewable energy, be that floating offshore wind, onshore wind or solar.

I would like to know EirGrid's response to those types of comments and suggestions and that policy. Obviously, gas has a role in terms of energy security and as a transition fuel but in the long-term, by the time we have done all those approaches, we would have significantly increased our renewable energy capacity. Would EirGrid or any of the other witnesses like to make a comment on that?