Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein)
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I am sorry that I missed the start of the meeting but I have been catching up on the opening statements. I am sorry if this question has been asked already.

There seems to be a real disconnect between power and people and between political power and energy power. I wonder what to do. I agree with the point about the investor-state dispute settlement and these courts. What we are looking at is the political and economic weaponisation or leveraging of energy. It is something we now depend on in every facet of our lives. Will the witnesses talk about how we could ameliorate this? The idea that taxpayers would be paying compensation to capitalist industries is profoundly anti-democratic. It seems we are at a precipice so how do we step back from it?