Pauline O'Reilly (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank our guests for their contributions. It is good to see Mr. Foley before the committee again. On the most recent occasion he was here, I asked when was the last time a contract was signed for services with a data centre and he said it was a year prior to that meeting in December 2021. We now have a framework in place. Are more contracts for services being signed at the moment? Are they more sustainable? Would they allow for co-location? I was at the time keen to insist that if we are to have data centres, they must have a co-location element to them to allow us to have the energy capacity for the service. What other kinds of infrastructure or industry would Mr. Foley consider ideally suited for co-location? We want to make sure we have variety rather than just focusing on one service or industry.

Representatives of Shannon Foynes Port Company were before the committee during its previous session. They mentioned the focus on the target of 5 GW of offshore renewable wind energy by 2030. They believe there is a target of 80 GW in the new stakeholder engagement or consultation, whatever it is called, this year. Is there a focus more generally on the entire volume that is achievable off the Irish coast?

If that is the case, where does that sit then for battery storage, for instance? I note from Mr. Smith's contribution that there are 2.5 GW, I think he said, in the pipeline at the moment. How much more is required if we are looking at something that is a much larger capacity? It is not even for our own energy security but instead it is that broader, pan-European or global market we are looking at. What is EirGrid's function within that as well?