Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their presentation. To pick up on the specific ask for the need for investment signals and an auction system or something along those lines, similar for wind and solar, the witnesses made a submission at the back end of last year. They are waiting to hear more and obviously, there are imminent deadlines there. Is there an indication of work going on or have they had engagement with the Department in one way or another? I presume, not to put words in their mouth, that they are asking the committee to raise this with the Department. If that is the case, they might give me a little more detail in that regard.

Mr. Smith referred to having a fit for purpose planning system. What does he mean by that? I presume he is referring to capacity. Are there particular elements that are unique to battery storage and are not available for other renewables? Is Mr. Smith satisfied that there is a regulatory regime? Obviously, different technologies are used. We hear from communities that these are new technologies and there are question marks over sustainability, critical elements, safety and decommissioning and that type of thing. Is Mr. Smith satisfied that the regulatory regime exists for that?

The private wires consultation was not mentioned. Are the witnesses interested in that? I know the Government is looking at a hybrid connections policy. Is that of interest? We hear from different stakeholders about energy hubs with renewables, large energy users and storage. Is that of interest to Energy Storage Ireland?