Regulator criticised over electricity13 supply failings in ‘damning’ report
Demands for Minister to ‘immediately publish’ the scathing review by former top civil servant
ENVIRONMENT Minister Eamon Ryan this weekend faced calls to ‘immediately publish’ an interim report into the country’s energy security that is understood to be highly critical of the regulator’s failure to secure electricity supplies.
The Irish Mail on Sunday has learned an initial report carried out by former leading senior civil servant Dermot McCarthy has been completed and given to the minister.
Sources indicated the interim review by Mr McCarthy, a former secretary general to three former Taoisigh, is scathing of the failure of the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) to guarantee there is enough power to keep the lights on.
A source told the MoS: ‘Dermot McCarthy delivered his report to the Minister on the 7th of November and there has not been any [media] coverage about this. It’s an interim report and it is fairly damning. Dermot McCarthy is now working on another report.’
The revelation comes as threat of power outages this winter remain because the country’s rising demand for energy has not been matched with sufficient back-up electricity supplies.
Last August the MoS revealed how a procurement process to secure emergency energy supplies had broken down, leaving the country vulnerable to blackouts.
And while attempts are ongoing to increase Ireland’s electricity generation for next year, the regulator has said it cannot guarantee there will not be power outages this winter as temperatures plummet.
Last August Taoiseach Micheál Martin announced Mr McCarthy had been appointed to conduct an independent review of the electricity supplies.
The initial report was handed to Mr Ryan earlier this month.
However, a spokesman for the Minister would not comment on the review when contacted by the MoS. He said: ‘An interim report was provided by Mr McCarthy to the Minister on 7th November 2022. To be absolutely clear, the interim report consisted of a brief update on the progress of the review to date but contained no findings of any kind. A substantive report, detailing findings from the review, will be submitted to the Minister in due course.’
However, influential Government TD Barry Cowen this weekend called on the Minister to ‘immediately publish’ the interim report.
Mr Cowen, who has previously publicly criticised the energy regulator, told the MoS: ‘The current crisis is immediate and the response must be immediate too; we cannot be going down a rabbit warren of final reports following medium reports following interim reports.
‘If confidence politically and among consumers and the public is to be restored in our regulator, we need to lance the boil now.
‘It is time for the truth to come out over the dismal failings of the Department of Energy, ESB, EirGrid and the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (CRU).’
The Fianna Fáil TD and former Minister added: ‘The reason the McCarthy interim report is being called a post mortem is that it is detailing a system of governance and of organising our energy supply that has failed.
‘It is clear to anyone with a degree of competence in energy issues that the shambolic regime which existed before the war in the Ukraine has collapsed in on itself like a deck of cards.
‘If this report is to have credibility it will find that Ireland is experiencing reputational damage over the Cold War state of our energy infrastructure.’
Mr Cowen’s party colleague, Senator Timmy Dooley, who is also member of the Oireachtas Committee on Environment and Climate Action, echoed the call for Minister Ryan to publish the interim report.
Senator Dooley told the
‘The shambolic regime has collapsed in on itself’
MoS: ‘Because of the seriousness of the situation, and the concerns that the public, business and industry have about the possibility of power blackouts, it’s important that all concerned are kept updated at every juncture and to that end I believe the Department should publish the interim report regardless, recognising that it is just that and it is in a stage of progress.
‘Let the final report with its findings and recommendations be published in due course.
‘In the interests of transparency let’s have it. One wouldn’t expect it would have any commercial sensitivities in it, so let’s have it published and be open and frank about the process as to how we’re in the situation that we’re in.’
Both the CRU and national grid operator EirGrid insisted they had not received a copy of the interim report.
A CRU spokesman said: ‘The CRU have engaged fully with the review process and await the official publication of the final report.
‘At that point the CRU will further engage with the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications as required on any observations or recommendations that it contains.
‘The CRU has not seen or received the contents of any interim report.’
A spokesman for EirGrid added: ‘EirGrid is neither aware that Mr McCarthy has issued an interim report to the Minister nor has it seen a copy of it and therefore is not in a position to comment on it.’