Dr. Phil Hemmingway:

There are some examples of where efforts to implement prioritisation have been put in train. For example, the Dutch regulator has begun a piece of work on that. It is something that we are actively exploring in discussions with the Department, EirGrid and ESB Networks. Our current understanding is that the legislation currently in place that we operate under is not sufficient in order to introduce prioritisation across the full set of potential connection applicants. We then come to the question of which entity should perform prioritisation. For example, there are targets around housing, electrification of electric vehicles, EVs, and heating. However, there are no targets for data centres. We are not currently in a position to prioritise between different social and economic needs. In addition to potentially requiring additional legislation, we would require some policy guidance on that.