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Electricity (Single Wholesale Market) (Northern Ireland) Order 2007

I, too, thank the Minister for introducing the order and we generally welcome it. I wish to ask about an issue raised in the other place by my honourable friend the Member for Argyle and Bute. The order creates a single wholesale market covering the whole island, but each jurisdiction will still be responsible for its carbon emissions trading schemes and renewable support mechanisms. Those are created in paragraph 6.6 of the RIA, which points out that, "““differentials have the potential to distort all-island trading and could give competitive advantage to players operating in either jurisdiction to a greater or lesser degree””." Furthermore, a negative instrument, which takes up a rather large amount of paper, has been tabled which impacts on this order—the Renewables Obligation Order (Northern Ireland) 2007, which give powers to the Northern Ireland Authority for Energy Regulation to impose obligations on generators. Clearly, if different obligations are imposed on generators in different jurisdictions, we do not have a fair single market. Perhaps the Minister will comment on that. Otherwise we support and welcome the order.