Ms Aoife MacEvilly:

Right now, we have capacity procured by the CRM in Northern Ireland. Some 600 MW is under construction. We have also delivered capacity like batteries and demand-side units through the capacity mechanisms that are in place, which are operational and supporting security of supply for this winter. We have tangible evidence of delivery under this capacity mechanism.

Some of the challenges around the 500 MW that did not deliver have been outlined by the Minister. It is clear that there are challenges around the timelines for planning processes and environmental processes, with everybody working to the best of their ability. It just seems to take longer. We support the Government's initiative around reviewing the planning framework with a view to accelerating some of those processes so we can deliver some of the much-needed capacity. That is not just around generation. Mr. Gannon spoke about this at a previous committee hearing. It is across the board. We need to support EirGrid in delivering transmission infrastructure more quickly and we need renewables more quickly. That is a general challenge. Within that, we recently published a review of the capacity mechanism areas where we think there can be improvements and we are consulting on that. That will enhance future auctions but in the meantime we have procured and are delivering significant additional capacity.