Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I thank everybody for their presentations. The figures we have heard today regarding data centres are very stark, as are those relating to the fossil fuel industry. I will start with a question for Dr. Tienhaara. Our Government recently banned offshore exploration for fossil fuels and we have a ban on fracking. Does Dr. Tienhaara think it contradictory that the Government would encourage the importation of LNG and, in light of the number of planning applications that are in train, would be looking at the possibility of establishing LNG terminals? Does she think it is time for this type of activity to be banned?

I thank Senator Boylan for connecting the ban between LNG terminals and data centres because that is very much what the Solidarity-People Before Profit Bill would do if it is passed on Thursday. The Bill in question is about banning both fossil fuel infrastructure and the proliferation of data centres.

That does not mean we should shut down existing data centres, of which there are more than 70 in the country; it means we should stop the development of more. I honestly believe this is linked to the question of LNG terminals. If 59% of gas reserves remain in the ground and if we take account of full-cycle emissions from the production of the gas to its distribution, would it be consistent to ban the import of LNG? That is if we are banning offshore exploration for gas and oil and onshore exploration for fracked gas.

I have a question for Dr. Bresnihan. An interesting question arose earlier as to what data centres are used for and the type of business model they represent. It is clear the business model used by companies building these data centres, and who mostly use them, is about mining data in order to advertise, sell and develop business around what can be sold to a population. This goes back to the point made by Dr. Tienhaara about reducing the amount of energy we use. We must make stark decisions because we are in a climate emergency.

Dr. Bresnihan indicated that Ireland shoulders more than its fair share of the energy and water burden of global digital activities and that the prospects of energy insecurity may carry greater reputational and economic damage than a moratorium on data centre development. Will he expand on that, particularly as there is a cohort of Deputies and Senators who believe we are damaging ourselves by not expanding the data industry? Dr. Bresnihan is making the opposite argument. There is also the question of just transition and how this affects communities, which perceive that they are bearing the burden because data centre activity eats into our electricity supply.

I have a final question for Dr. Tienhaara. There must be an answer to all of this. She mentioned the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance demand, which is that we address both demand and supply simultaneously. I agree with her. The severity of the climate crisis dictates that we need the State to intervene directly on the question of supply. In other words, there should be state-led, controlled and delivered renewable energy power companies. We have did that before with the ESB in the 1930s and 1940s and we could absolutely do it again. If there is time, will Dr. Tienhaara comment on that?