Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will launch straight into questions because I have quite a number of them and only two minutes. I will ask Dr. Tienhaara about the figures she quoted in terms of keeping within the Paris Agreement targets, which mean leaving 89% of coal, 59% of gas and 58% of oil in the ground. The strategy and policy in Ireland are to switch towards greener renewable energy but also to have an element of back-up for the next couple of decades, using gas in particular. Is it possible to stay within the target of leaving those amounts of fuels in the ground but also use them as a back-up? On ISDS cases, Dr. Tienhaara referenced many claims but how many of them have been successful? What is her view on the position in Ireland whereby we have strongly stated that Irish law will supersede international law in those cases?

For Dr. Bresnihan, I will pick up from where Senator Dooley left off. At the moment, 11% of grid capacity to supply data centres is too much and 28% by 2030 will be too much. These are targets we have to seek to reduce but, surely, quoting a figure of 70% grid capacity, which is 42% above EirGrid's estimate of what it will be, seems to suit a moratorium agenda? I am surprised to see that because I do not believe it will be the case. I want to cover that issue again because, as we said, 28% is too much but to say it is 70% is an overstatement, to say the least.

If the policy adopted by this country is to continue to grant applications for data centres, surely we should have a conversation around mitigation measures and planning conditions. I agree we cannot continue on the trajectory we are on at the moment in approving applications, but we are a centre of IT excellence and data centres are part of that IT environment. For the purposes of this conversation, let us assume we will continue to grant permissions for data centres. In that context, what kind of mitigation measures can we look at? Can we look at water harvesting?

Dr. Bresnihan mentioned the water figures. Can we look at district heating to be used by communities? Can we look at procuring renewable energy and using the huge financial power?

I have one final question for Dr. Carton. He mentioned that EU countries are already moving towards hydrogen power for transport. How far advanced are they? Are there any examples of countries that are converting wind to hydrogen and rolling it out into their national grids?