Mr. Tom Donnellan:

The Deputy has asked some very important questions. As part of the restructuring we are doing, especially at management and administration levels, we are reducing our cost base in order to be able to absorb the elimination of the public service obligation. We are reducing our costs so that things which are not as popular as they were in the past can be kept going. We want to achieve a just transition while we build out other areas of opportunity. Those plans will continue to run on the basis of a number of factors, the first of which the Deputy has touched on. I refer to the question of whether planning will be obtained for the two ESB projects and, if so, how long it will run for. Will the Edenderry project get planning when it comes out of planning in 2023? The cost of carbon is another important factor which will determine future viability. We currently trade carbon as part of a European scheme. It trades at between €15 and €20 a tonne. We have to buy. A number of years ago, the price was €5 or €6 a tonne. If the cost of carbon increases substantially - for example, to €30 a tonne - the viability of the plants will be called into question.