Mr. Martin Shanahan:

I do not agree. First, as I understand it, data centres account for 11% of energy usage, not 17%. As I pointed out to the Deputy, data centres are a component of the technology sector and we have benefited greatly from that sector. I have given him some of the employment figures but the spend in the economy is extraordinarily significant, not to mention the very significant tax take from those companies. To focus solely on the jobs within the data centre is not the correct lens to use. I would also point out that many Irish companies are sub-supplying into data centres and are involved in building data centres across the globe as a result of us having these data centres in Ireland. Data is going to be at the centre of just about everything we will need to do from an enterprise perspective into the future. On the Deputy's characterisation of dumping data, from my perspective, data is likely to be a very valuable asset as we move forward in terms of where it is held, how it is processed and what companies do with data into the future.