Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Going back to the issue of sustainability, despite what Deputy Paul Murphy says, data centres have enabled the digital transformation. They have allowed us to have remote delivery and remote working, they facilitate enterprise operating in a less energy-intensive way where they are properly used and they are excluded from Ireland's obligations under the EU because they are in the emissions trading system. The reason data centres are often located in Ireland relates to the fact Ireland is an efficient place in which to locate them, and we have developed a strong enterprise base in the ICT sector. That is recognised in Europe as an area of competitive advantage where there is an advantage for Europe, in climate terms, in having such activities done in areas where they are more efficient in climate terms. A very simplistic view is often taken in Ireland regarding the role of data centres, and Deputy Murphy is adding to that.

To what extent is Enterprise Ireland looking to see whether sectors are generally transforming themselves in terms of their design of product, their material choices, how they get to the market in terms of packaging, how they design for minimising waste in the production, use and distribution of their products and how they contribute to using reused rather than virgin material, as well as energy efficiency? It seems the response to date has been narrow in terms of energy and saying we have to think about our carbon footprint, but if we want a sustainable approach, which COP27 is calling for, we need a deeper transformation. To what extent has Enterprise Ireland looked at that broader agenda? It will hit us in spades in food, where, increasingly, consumers will want to know a lot about origin and so on, and moves are starting in that direction. We ought to have a circular strategy for construction, food, ICT and all the sectors Enterprise Ireland develops, and I am interested to hear the extent to which the agency is going to adopt a leadership role in this, beyond the grants for solar and so on, which are valuable but which are not the whole story.