Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. As I said, the first of the terms of reference related to the factors which contributed to the capacity shortfall and that directly relate to the auction to which the Deputy referred. In 2019, 500 MW of power was not delivered. That is the first item on the terms of reference, in terms of what factors contributed to that.

With regard to emergency generation, I want to thank the Deputy's party and other Members of the House for their overwhelming support for emergency legislation, unwelcome as it was. No one wanted to do it but I very much appreciate the support which has helped us to move to the next phase. I understand the contracting of generators from the OEM operator has been completed. I happened to visit Tarbert in County Kerry last Friday. I visited the sites in Shannonbridge and Tarbert and spoke to the engineers there. It seems that everything is ready to go. I cannot recall the timelines, but progress is imminent. Clearing of the land depends on planning approvals and so on. The two projects are on track.

With regard to more recent auctions, there are key issues. The CRU is out in public consultation on the issue the Deputy referred to with regard to the impact of inflation. Consultation closed on 26 October and I expect the information will come out relatively quickly. There are ongoing issues with grid connections and our planning system.

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