Chair, I thank the hon Minister. I am not sure if we have the best renewable energy programme in the world, but we have certainly made some progress, and I do commend you for that. On this particular issue we have certainly cut it fine in respect of finalising all the outstanding details related to the renewable energy programme. In fact, if we had finalised these contracts only a few days later, the validity of these contracts that the independent power producers had concluded would, in fact, have become null and void.
This programme has certainly travelled a rocky road and investors' confidence has often been shaken. In this regard, I noticed the announcement on Monday by your department that a further 3 200 megawatts of renewable energy contained in the Integrated Resources Plan, IRP, will in fact be brought forward in terms of the timelines.
When will the ministerial directive in this regard be issued, and could you give us more details on it with regard to the timelines and the quanta that will be given to different technologies. I thank you.