Sharon Keogan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Do Dr. Deane and Mr. O'Donoghue believe the Government should assess the feasibility of building small, modular nuclear reactors to address the long-term needs in Ireland regarding energy?

With regard to prioritising our own citizens, data centres currently consume 14% of our electricity, as mentioned by Deputy Haughey. The building of more data centres would increase Ireland's demand for electricity by at least 40%. Some estimates suggest data centres could consume up to 70% of Ireland's electricity by 2030. If we are prioritising our citizens, surely we have to pause the building of more data centres in this country. That is my view but I would like to know the view of the witnesses.

I understand the position on speeding up the permitting of offshore wind developments and the storage strategy for wind, but what is the backup plan for wind energy?

Wind turbines only operate about 35% of the time. They do not operate in a similar way to nuclear plants which operate maybe 92% or 93% of the time. What is the back-up supply? We will not have that with wind. With regard to the behavioural campaign will the EU take an authoritarian role, as such, as it did with the Covid-19 measures? Will it undertake an advertising campaign like that so that people will know exactly what they should do? It is unfair that here in Ireland the people have to shoulder the brunt of this. It is the people who it is going to cost. I have already seen businesses close down. We will see much more of that following what we have heard today. People might get to Christmas and then think if it is worth their while opening next year because they are going to face another year of this. If the witnesses can answer a few of those questions I would welcome their thoughts.