Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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164. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he will report on the workforce plan for the CRU, which included the approval of 74 new whole-time positions; how many have been filled to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35011/23]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) is an independent regulator, accountable to a committee of the Oireachtas and not the Minister. CRU was assigned responsibility for the regulation of the Irish electricity sector, following enactment if the Electricity Regulation Act 1999 and subsequent legislation.

While CRU is financed by means of a levy on regulated entities, it must currently receive approval from the Minister of Environment, Climate & Communications and the Minister of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery & Reform, in consultation with the Department of Housing Local Government & Heritage, for staffing levels.

CRU submitted its strategic plan for the period 2022-24 to the Minister in December 2021. The plan was accompanied by a resource plan which detailed a re-organisation of CRU seeking sanction for an additional 74 new whole-time positions, bringing CRU’s sanctioned number of staff to 196, to be implemented over a three-year period. CRU has confirmed, as of 11 July 2023, that 30 out of the total 74 positions have been filled.