Mr. Nicholas Tarrant:

When I mentioned private wires and the need to manage the safety of them, I was not raising it as a potential barrier. It is just one of these things that will be managed as we implement Government policy. I am confident that we will have a good way of doing that to make this policy work in practice. Projects can take longer than originally planned for a variety of reasons. It can be a risk of budgets going over what was originally planned. The Laois-Kilkenny project is an example. I believe that project got planning permission back in 2014 or 2015. It has taken longer so the costs are higher. Around costs, we are overseen by the CRU. When submissions are made around variations on budgets and costs, the CRU scrutinises those to make sure they are efficient and brings in consultants to review them. That is an example of a project that might have been delivered earlier but because it has taken longer, the cost would be higher.