Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I was not expecting to get in. My first point, building on what Dr. Bresnihan was talking about, is on getting the buy-in from the population and obtaining a cost-benefit analysis in respect of these data centres. There is a KPMG report which states that 60% to 80% of the capital costs of data centres can be written off against taxes. The Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, was not able to say how much has actually been lost to the taxpayer as a result of these write-offs. If one takes the €7 billion that is being invested by the data industry in Ireland, this could be up to €5 billion that taxpayers have been denied by these data centres. If one also looks at the public service obligation, PSO, and how it is levied, it means that households are disproportionately subsidising data centres. This is because the PSO is levied on peak demand. We know that data centres do not use much peak demand but have a steady demand. It is very important that we have the necessary conversations in respect of cost-benefit analysis and how much those data centres are costing us for the jobs we get in return.

I also wish to debunk the industry-led report. That report was funded by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, but it was an industry trade group which stated that Ireland’s climate was not the primary reason we have data centres here. We have a favourable climate, but the relevant tax incentives are a factor.

Moving then on to the energy security question, which is what we were also asked to look at today, my fear is that if we continue to allow the data centres to expand without having the moratorium, it will make the argument for building LNG terminals - in respect of which there are two planning applications at present - stronger because we have this energy demand coming from the data centres and, as a result, we need to have energy security. Am I correct in stating, Dr. Tienhaara, that if planning permission is given for those two terminals, they will be covered by the ECT and all of its provisions - prior to any reform of the energy charter - they will be protected under the very old ISDS model and that this will be the case for a period of 20 years? This is a chicken-and-egg question in that are the data centres leading the demand for the LNG terminals. Will what I have outlined mean that we will be left exposed to ISDS compensation claims if we want to phase out those terminals?