Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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It will still take number of months. Even if proceed as we are already going, without the further analysis which I asked to be developed, it would still be a number of months because it is highly complex. Very good analysis has been done by Gas Networks Ireland looking at the technology that would be best used. It is fair to say that some of the lessons from this are different from what would have been expected a year or six months ago, in terms of the technicalities of what a boil-off rate might be if we use an LNG terminal or what the refill mechanisms are. It is down to the technical issues. This work has been done extensively by Gas Networks Ireland.

As I have said, even in the past two years, and last year in particular, what we have seen in the electricity system is quite a significant change which perhaps no one was modelling or predicting. There is the role and benefit of the interconnectors we have with the UK, and we are about to open up another one in the coming weeks between Ireland and Wales. It will start to go through its testing before it is fully energised. The ability for such interconnection to radically reduce gas demand has taken out coal-fired production and helped us deliver significant emissions reductions. This and the far faster roll-out of solar and storage technologies than some might have expected deserve for us to consider what exactly are the implications of these changes, even in the past year, in any investment decision.