Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I thank Professor McMullin for his presentation. It was interesting that Professor McMullin spoke quite a bit about demand management. It is something that we are missing in our discourse when we talk about energy here. We had a lot of discussion last week about data centres. There was a motion for a moratorium on the permissions and it was notable the lack of any discussion about putting any controls or demand management systems in place for large energy users. My fear is that when there is demand management, it tends to be more towards individuals and the State will require a lot of individuals and families when it comes to demand management which will be quite costly for them. At the same time, the State appears not to want to limit the demand of large data users. I am wondering does Professor McMullin see that as a risk when it comes to undermining our efforts to meet our global targets in a way that aligns with the principles of a just transition.

In relation to data centre, is there any mechanism that Professor McMullin is aware of by which the State could retrospectively regulate or condition them? There has been huge growth over the past number of years. Is that growth something that we will have to live with forever and a day and accommodate or is there a way to retrospectively deal with it? Is there a risk that if the Government takes measures to regulate it post-permission, those companies could utilise the investor court system to seek compensation in relation to potential commercial impacts on them?