Ms Marie Donnelly:

The council is on record as recommending to the Government that both EirGrid and ESB networks apply strategic prioritisation in granting access to the grid. Up until now, we have always operated a system of first come, first served. While that is very equitable, it means that an individual house somewhere in the country - I do not mean this disrespectfully - can sometimes get priority over a factory, hospital or some other energy user. We have recommended that the Government apply a system of prioritisation for access to the grid. It will be a Government policy to decide what is the ranking of the priority. I would imagine that vulnerable elements, such as schools, hospitals and nursing homes, would be priority areas. It could well be that critical infrastructure aspects would also be a priority. For example, support to the data centre that supports An Garda Síochána would or could be considered a priority area. That would be a decision for the Government as to how it would rank the prioritisation.

From the perspective of residential homes, there are two very important aspects. First is the roll-out of microgeneration, where people can afford it, and having it provided to social houses. This is an important element of supporting individual residential outlets in terms of their own electricity generation and consumption. The second issue is not investing in the grid and the development of our renewable energies. Not only will industry be challenged, but households will as well. It is a national priority to invest in the grid and the generation of sufficient power, be it onshore or offshore. We have already asked for strategic prioritisation for the two regulated entities in this space.