Ms Aoife MacEvilly:

That was the published decision. The focus of that decision was very much on security of supply. The other options around flexible demand support security of supply but would also be a lower carbon solution. Sometimes data centres refer to it as chasing the wind or following the sun. Some of these large global operators have data centres at multiple sites across the globe. Therefore, at times of low renewables or at peak times in Ireland, they could switch the processing capacity and the electricity demand or load to locations that have high renewables at that particular time. That is attractive. Of concern to us is that in the responses we have received to our consultation on the network charges, the indication from some of the sector is that while this is a future option, it may not necessarily be available this winter. There is some concern in our minds about whether it will be available. We need to understand that better.

On the procurement for demand-side services, we were considering an approach in our network tariff whereby people would be charged and could avoid the charge by reducing their use at specific times. The EU regulation on emergency measures and supportive energy prices sets out a different approach whereby customers should be incentivised in the manner the Senator described. In other words, they would compete to earn money to reduce their use. I am simply repeating what is in the regulation. That approach must be implemented on a non-discriminatory basis. It would tend to argue against the approach we were looking at and argues for a different approach that still targets the same benefits. We are pleased to see that as part of the package. However, perhaps we need to reflect on the approach we are taking to ensure it aligns with the EU requirements. I do not think that necessarily rules out the idea that there could be other options to support essential services to get batteries on site. If that were a policy decision that the Government was to take, there may be other ways of incentivising them. I am not sure that hospitals are best positioned to bid to reduce use. What we want to do for hospitals is to ensure they have continuous supply. That is why they are on the priority list for any of the emergency measures. Perhaps a different approach is required for them.