I welcome the Bill. The Minister of State will be familiar with the impact of Storm Éowyn and how it hit the west of Ireland in particular. Any investment in ESB Networks that helps to build resilience for the future is to be welcomed. I am fully supportive of it. Over the coming years, the ESB's investment plan will see the delivery of more than 500 capital projects - a huge number - including 181 km of new overhead lines, underground cabling, upgraded substations, new substations and 50,000 new poles. It is really important that this investment is made. We do not want to be dealing with another Storm Éowyn in the future without having the necessary resilience in the network. As the PR6 strategy paper outlines, by 2030 millions of devices, including heat pumps, EVs, battery-storage renewables and smart meters will all be coming onto the electricity distribution grid network, in line with the climate action plan. There is an immense opportunity here but it requires investment. The ESB and EirGrid will need to work together to ensure the network can be built, can accommodate all these devices and can manage renewable power, with all its spikes, and all the different complex flows of electricity that arise across the system. Communities are looking for certainty in the years ahead and we must provide that certainty in whatever way we can. Keeping the electricity grid and infrastructure up to date and fit for modern society is one way in which the Government can and will provide that certainty, and I support it in so doing. This Bill is a practical measure and an investment measure. It will afford progress for people across the length and breadth of the country and give strength to our economy. It will work with us to further our climate ambitions, in which the climate committee is very interested, and to prepare our country for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

Sentiment score: 0.38