Mr. Nicholas Tarrant:

On the Deputy's first question about what can be done to accelerate, it is really important that we accelerate the new projects that are coming through on the electricity network. There are 231 transmission projects that are identified in the price review 6 period that are brought forward by EirGrid and ultimately delivered by ESB Networks for the period 2026 to 2030. That programme of work is really important. There have been 29 projects identified as the priority projects and another tranche after that, at a transmission level, that are really urgent. A number of those are critical for Dublin, including what we call bulk supply points, which bring power from the transmission network down into the distribution network. Progressing those projects is really critical.

On the distribution level, we have identified 31 electricity substations. These 110 kV substations are large. They will take power from the transmission network, which is the equivalent of motorways when it comes to the electricity network, and then bring them down to the distribution network so that they can feed new houses, businesses, etc. As we are looking to accelerate those projects, any measures that can help with that are really important. An example of that would be accelerated consenting through the planning process. Another example is access to State land to be able to locate those substations and identify sites for them quickly in order that they can get on into the construction phase. Even though there is room for acceleration, the construction phase is usually a fairly fixed time so anything that can be done in advance of the construction period to get the projects done faster would be really important.

We get our funding through customer bills using the electricity regulated model and that is overseen by the CRU. Last November, we submitted a business plan for a price review. We expect a draft determination on that price review probably this week. That will be published by the CRU. Next there will be a consultation period. Around November or December the price review will be, hopefully, finalised, which will give us certainty and certainty to our supply chain. As for our contractors with which we have been growing in partnership over the last few years, and the people who supply us with key materials, it is important to give them market confidence for a five-year period and probably well beyond that because we are going to see sustained investment needed in the electricity network over the coming decades. Growing that critical resource for Ireland is important. So market confidence around the funding and the ability to invest is key.

The Deputy asked about data centres and maybe competing demand. There is a convergence around the electricity network that is driven by a number of factors. Obviously we know about housing. There are changes to the housing specification as well, including, for example, there are bigger housing connections now for electricity because of the electrification of heat and transport. We are seeing very strong economic growth and new industrial and commercial properties connections coming on to our network. There is also the wider electrification of heat and transport, as well as the likes of data centres. We are seeing a major increase in the number and capacity of connections being requested for the electricity network. A bit like our colleagues in Uisce Éireann, we are looking to connect as many people as possible. The policy, under our licence, is to connect people on a first come, first served basis. We are not allowed to discriminate between different types of customers irrespective of the sector.

Finally, there was a direction from the Commission for Regulation of Utilities in November 2021 that put certain criteria in place around the issuing of future offers to data centres.