Mr. Paddy Phelan:

It reflects my point about the sector coupling element, especially in Ireland's context. As we saw yesterday, EirGrid launched the second iteration of its Shaping our Electricity Future. We identified some of the challenges around grid and grid infrastructure. It goes back to Senator Gavan's point on infrastructure. To place bets on certain technologies that are reliant on key pieces of infrastructure, be they electricity, gas or others, is in some cases a risk that cannot be predicted. At European level, it might not be as constrained as it might be in the Irish scenario. From Ireland's perspective, we need to make sure we are not locking ourselves into something that is unexpectedly hindered by a delay in other factors.

To go back to the question on planning and consenting, there is an absolute urgency for Ireland, as a nation, to select these strategic corridors and enable local authorities to act coherently in developing these key infrastructure projects to prevent the delays we have seen regarding these arguments over project splitting and screening assessments. If we could do a national screening assessment similar to what we did to get motorways built, and set up strategic corridors to each municipal authority, we would see key infrastructure projects less resisted, if that makes sense, and more easily consented to. Those are key elements that sit alongside the likes of these Acts. In one sense, there has to be infrastructure connectivity and coupling and, in the other sense, the technologies that can plug in.

To come back to the Deputy's primary point regarding the question of how we set these criteria, fundamentally, we are chasing carbon and a decarbonised energy system. Those are the two key parameters. To reduce emissions from the energy sector and increase our percentage of overall renewables, which we abysmally failed to achieve by 2020, and they are on a path to do equally poorly if not worse when it comes to our 2030 targets, these key elements around infrastructure and technologies need to be unlocked.