Mr. Peter O'Shea:

I will address some of Deputy Ryan's comments. I was asked to speak on Ireland's targets. The EU emissions trading system, ETS, is an important element of that. We did not create it, but it is a part of the regulatory mechanism with which we must deal. In the past year, changes have been made to the ETS to increase the pace of reductions. The ESB supported those changes.

As to the broader perspective, we have set out in our report, entitled Ireland's Low Carbon Future - Dimensions of a Solution, how we could see the energy system as a whole rather than just the electricity system being decarbonised between now and 2050.

Moneypoint was mentioned. For us, it is a matter of when, not if, Moneypoint transitions away from coal. Among the issues we are considering is the exact timing of that. It is the youngest coal-fired power station on these islands. Others can judge whether that fact is important, but it is important to recognise that Moneypoint is the largest single store of energy on this island. Moneypoint can hold three months of fuel, which would be invaluable to the island if a security of supply issue arose. That comment is just meant to balance the argument. Moneypoint meets approximately 20% of our demand and acts as a good counterbalance that enables wind and other intermittent plants to operate.

We undertook a joint report in 2015 that indicated that, between 2008 and 2020, Moneypoint would save Irish consumers an average of €200 million per year based on modelled prices.

ETS is important because it sets an overall volume of carbon that can be emitted over a period across Europe. If we close Moneypoint before it is economically efficient to do so, we will lose the security supply benefit and the cost benefit to Irish customers, notwithstanding the fact that it is not clear it would impact positively on the environment. That is because of the way the trading mechanism that is ETS works, whereby other coal plants across Europe, which may be far less efficient, will generate the carbon instead of Moneypoint. It is important to understand all the issues around it. The Department mentioned earlier that the White Paper indicates 2025 as a period and we are looking at the various options around that. It is important to balance the security of supply issue, the cost issue and the fact that, due to the way ETS works, there would be no environmental benefit if we closed it in the morning. The carbon that Moneypoint emits would be taken up by other power plants across Europe.