Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses very much for that discussion and for their opening remarks. It has been a really useful discussion for us and certainly extremely interesting.

I have three questions, one of which is about energy security and relates to EirGrid specifically. It is good to have its representatives back before the committee. This is something we discussed during their previous time at this committee. Specifically, EirGrid mentioned there is a temporary emergency generation plan for the next three winters, which is extremely welcome considering where we were last October. There was concern about that winter. EirGrid stated then in the opening remarks, however, that this would be operated by relevant market participants outside of the electricity market and only run as required for system stability and system security purposes. The witnesses might elaborate on that to give the committee a sense of what is proposed for the next three winters.

Many witnesses referred to gas as a transitional fuel only. Do witnesses foresee gas being used post 2030 in our energy mix for energy security on the island? In terms of the up-front costs and outlay, many of the technologies we discussed today are somewhere in their infancy and others are expanding their capabilities. Will this ultimately mean a reduction in cost for the consumer? I know it is a bit early to say but given the plans that are before us, if it all pans out the way it should, could consumers ultimately see a reduction in the bills?