Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank Ms MacEvilly for her statement. I invite members to indicate. Most of them have already done so. I appreciate their eagerness to get in early on this issue. The meeting is confined to three hours. It is a complex and detailed subject so I ask members, as usual, to confine questions to two minutes. I will be strict in that regard but, if we have time, we will go back for second and third rounds. I ask members to direct their questions to individual witnesses, if possible. If they wish to ask a general question, that is fine. If the witnesses wish to contribute on any question, even if it is not directed to them, I will facilitate that. I ask them to indicate it to me or to the clerk and we will note that and bring them in. I have a list of members who have indicated. I will kick off, if that is all right.

The area of energy is very complex and there are challenges with respect to many aspects of it but, broadly, there are two overarching issues. There is the price of electricity and this pan-European challenge where wholesale gas prices have gone through the roof. The price of electricity is tied to that. This is what is going to affect consumers, including vulnerable consumers, in the months ahead. The other issue - the two are often conflated but they are separate - is the particular challenges we have in Ireland in terms of matching supply and demand. Every country has its own challenges in that regard. There was reference in the witnesses' opening statements to how tight it was last winter and how tight it is expected to be in the coming winter. That is broadly the agenda for today. It is important that we understand there are two separate issues for discussion.

My first question is for Mr. Foley. His statement is clear. He stated that the growth in demand is not the core problem; the core problem is the "performance of existing plant and delivery of new generation through a robust auction process" and that is the challenge. I ask him to elaborate on that because there is a narrative that the growth in demand is the problem. He mentioned it in his opening statement but it is also a question for the regulator regarding how we are where we are, with concerns in respect of security of supply. What happened and what is being done to address those concerns? We all want to come out of this meeting reassured that we are not going to have blackouts this winter and that consumers are going to be able to afford critical energy.

I ask the Minister to address the broader pan-European issue. This is directed to the CRU as well. We are seeing the wholesale gas price go up tenfold. The electricity price is linked to that. There is a train coming at us with respect to energy prices. Yesterday, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said that radical reform of the market was needed. Notwithstanding the national challenge we have in matching supply and demand, this really big problem is staring us in the face. I ask the Minister to elaborate on what can be done to delink the price of electricity from the wholesale gas price. What kind of structural changes does he foresee will be necessary? In that context, what kind of measures does the CRU propose to protect vulnerable consumers?