Speeches by Downie.

“On that point about interconnectors and renewables, the challenges came up in a previous evidence session. If it is sunny in the south-east of England, the odds are it is sunny in the north-west of France. At what point do we say, “We can or can’t share, because we have got our own as well”? Where is that balance, in t…”

“Professor Morisetti, in your introduction after answering the Chair’s first question, you talked about Russia attacking Ukrainian energy infrastructure as a weak point. We saw the UK sign up to the Hamburg declaration in January, which covers a range of energy security issues, and is a sign of international co-operatio…”

“Because they listen to each other. You listen to your peers.”

“I could not agree with you more. I think the other thing is, as someone who did comms for 15 or 20 years, sometimes the chief executive is not the best messenger.”

“The chief executive is not the best message carrier for something corporate; often it is someone much further down the list. I understand the value of a chief executive speaking out in a column in The Times or something. Moving on from that, how do you get to someone? You mentioned the North sea and the north-east of S…”

“Are they willing to help or support the Government in saying to the public, “If you don’t do this, your energy bills will be higher”?”

“That is a discussion I had in a session this morning, where there was a reluctance from some businesses in a particular area to get involved in what they saw as an increasingly politically difficult space. How do you encourage them to do exactly what you have said there and say, “The Government are investing in this, i…”

“You have touched on a couple of these aspects throughout the session, Minister, but looking at some of the trust that Government do or do not carry when it comes to communications, there are two aspects. First, how much of trying to get people to engage and make different choices with energy transitions is about just g…”

“Finally, should we change the name of the Department? Would you like to?”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Dowd. Last Friday I was at a roundtable with local businesses, creative organisations and city centre groups in Dunfermline to discuss the safety of the town centre and how we can make Dunfermline a prosperous city in the future. What struck me was the unanimity of exp…”

“My position is similar to that of my two colleagues. This is one of the biggest issues we get in the mailbag. The issue has been ongoing for years. It is a very difficult one to tackle. I think more time for colleagues to discuss that in detail and to find the correct solutions, which will have a short-term and long-te…”

“Dunfermline is both Scotland’s ancient capital and its newest city, and we are starting to plan for what Dunfermline can become and how it can truly fulfil its potential. I have launched a survey to ensure that local people have a great say in that, and can give me their ideas about what the city should be. Will the Le…”

“At the beginning of the year, I visited Estonia to see how 100% of public services are delivered via its digital ID system. It is done safely and securely, and as the Minister said, citizens now have better access to and control over their data, including over who sees what, when and where. The system also saves Estoni…”

“7. What recent progress his Department has made on implementing a digital ID scheme.”

“Is it something that is more useful in an emergency or an unexpected event, rather than something that would be considered part of a programme?”

“That is the balance.”

“Thank you. I will keep it short and to the point; I am still out of breath. How can the Government balance flexibility through interconnectors and develop new sources of supply-side flexibility? I will give that to Kat.”

“Can we be confident that the savings from reducing the structural inefficiencies in how we trade electricity with the EU will actually pass through to British consumers? Kat, I would be happy if you could start off.”

“Does that come back to your earlier point about the weather being the same, the conditions being the same, and you are going to see similar conditions regardless?”

“You do not see a risk that, for that reason, increased use or reliance on interconnectors would dissuade from domestic energy production?”