Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

My first questions are for the Minister and then I will turn to the CRU and EirGrid. When does the Minister anticipate that the review being conducted by Mr. McCarthy will be submitted to him? Will he make the report publicly available?

On prices, the Minister said we are seeing unprecedented increases in bills and in energy poverty rates. However, we are also seeing unprecedented increases in the profits for energy companies. It was spoken about a bit but will the Government implement a windfall tax to try to dampen those profits and redistribute the additional revenue back to those experiencing energy poverty?

Turning to the CRU and EirGrid, we are hearing a lot about what went wrong and who is responsible. We are seeing a bit of going backwards and forwards and some finger-pointing on that. I want to bring it back to this winter and what will happen. The CRU's opening statement referred to what the problem was. It was identified in 2020 and 2021. It referred to the programme of works as the solution. However, that programme of works is a document that was initiated in April 2021 and was published in September 2021. Obviously, we are in a very different environment now than last year, so I am surprised it has come in with a document outlining solutions that is a year old when there are new issues to be considered. Similarly, the information EirGrid has given the committee is from its energy capacity statement from last year. We need real-time information as to how critical and how bad the situation is. What is the shortfall in energy between supply and demand that is forecast for this winter? This winter is what we need to focus on. What is the likelihood of blackouts because of that? How will that shortfall be made up?