Mr. Justin Moran:

The lack of grid is probably one of the biggest challenges facing us. One of the reasons we are on the east coast is that the demand centre is Dublin. If we want to get electricity out of north Mayo, Donegal, Derry, Sligo or Leitrim, we need a stronger electricity grid up there.

Taking one of the Senator's last points on the potential for export, if we deliver the projects, that will mostly deal with Irish domestic demand. We may be able to export small amounts of it and import at other times. The long-term potential is that we will certainly be able to generate a huge amount of electricity in Ireland. The question is then if we export it or try to attract investment into Ireland. One of the things we are really keen to see the Government do relates to identifying in the DMAP new locations for offshore wind energy. Hypothetically, if the DMAP said there was potential for offshore energy off the coast of Donegal, that is an argument to get investment into Donegal which could use that electricity.