Johnny Mythen (Wexford, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

ESB Networks is a wonderful company. I worked with it for a while. I recognise what the crews do every day. To me, they are first responders because they go out in thunderstorms and all sorts of weather, really bad weather, and risk their lives sometimes. People do not realise that sometimes, people on dialysis machines and all sorts of machines, are depending on these lines and that the crews keep these people alive. I say well done on that.

Turning to the opening statement, I am a little surprised it was said that ESB Networks does not have a policy role concerning the use of agricultural land. I was just wondering why this is the case. Obviously, this is where decisions are going to impact. After food security, energy security is the next most important. This has become obvious now with the war in Europe and the price of oil and gas. We can see that consumers are paying through the nose. It is really affecting the economy and so forth. I ask Mr. Tarrant to comment a little on this point.

Moving to the scale of the projects, I am a bit confused about this aspect. It was said that there are more than 94,000 projects. Does the company have the capacity to do all this work? Just on this figure of 94,000 as well, is it combined with the figures for 2022, 2023 and 2024? I ask this because we are talking about approximately 750 projects being done per week. This is an extremely serious number to deal with. Has ESB Networks got the capacity to deal with this amount of work?

The kernel of the issue here concerns the enduring connection policy, ECP, process. This is the process that renewable energy projects must use when they apply to connect to the electricity system. As it stands, though, the opportunity to apply for a connection to the electricity grid only comes about once a year. If a renewable energy project, for example, then encounters delays in obtaining planning permission from An Bord Pleanála, it could miss the ECP window, which would mean it would have to wait for another full year to apply. What is the company's position on this aspect?