Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 8 March 2022
148. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications his views on the fact that the Commission for Regulation of Utilities has not carried out a risk assessment or an analysis of Ireland’s financial exposure under the provisions of the Energy Charter Treaty in its regulation of new gas fired power plants [12724/22]
View answerIn 2017, the Energy Charter Conference decided to modernise the treaty in order to respond to the demands of member countries that consider it outdated with regard to current investment agreements. EU governments and the European Commission are negotiating an update to the ECT’s terms, but the negotiations to date have been slow and complex amid difficulties finding common agreement among the charter’s members.
The Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) is an independent regulator, accountable to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action. It is up to the CRU to decide their investment risk analysis methodology as I have no role in their decision making process.
