Mr. Declan Burke:

I thank the committee for affording Gas Networks Ireland the opportunity to attend today's meeting. The purpose of the gas regulating station is, essentially, to reduce pressure. Medium-pressure gas that comes into the outskirts of the city is converted into a low-pressure gas that is distributed within city environment areas to supply residential and SMEs. To manage the pressure of the gas network for safety, the gas is operated at a lower pressure where there are residential buildings, high density, or where meters are fitted internally. It is the standard mode of operation among gas utilities worldwide to reduce the pressure volume in a city centre area, as I outlined.

As to why there should be an exemption now, Gas Networks Ireland has large-scale work planned over the next number of years, including the next five years and beyond. The exemption is to facilitate a programme of work to either install, upgrade or refurbish existing infrastructure to comply with safety or changes in regulations. It concerns small-scale infrastructure that connects. The district regulation station is typically located adjacent to public footpaths and roads, where the gas infrastructure pipelines are in the road, so it is ancillary equipment. The exemption would facilitate more certainty on planning and a saving in time and cost. The level of effort required to install some of this small-scale infrastructure is somewhat disproportionate at present, whether it involves a vent stack or a district regulation station with a vent stack.

Gas Networks Ireland believes there are many benefits to the exemption. Outside that, we would go through the normal planning process. As part of the installation process, we carry out risk assessments, we look at the environmental surrounding, and we consider safety in terms of the position of the vent stacks and the district regulating installations. I hope that answers the question. If not, I will clarify further.