Mr. Jim Gannon:

I imagine that they are outside of that requirement and that these are proposals at the moment. In terms of our energy-demand strategy, particularly the new connections for large energy users, the decision is likely to be taken in court in the next year.

In terms of PPAs, we have seen Fingal County Council make a decision and have as a planning condition that condition. It is, therefore, accessible and available to planning authorities right now to use that.

On the desire expressed by the CCAC, which we are supportive of, to have consideration to use of the waste heat, I am not sure that that would necessarily apply to these data centres that may be in train or in process, if they have gone through the planning process already.

There is opportunity left in that regard.

We have also mentioned planning reform, which was another finding. Another important point concerns the architecture of the energy system in Ireland. It involves the Department, the regulator, the semi-State entities and the system operators. That overarching policy and governance was set, by and large, more than 20 years ago. Ireland's policy priorities and the policy and regulations in Europe at the time were very different from the policy opportunities we have now. It is rational to consider the overall architecture of the energy system in Ireland. As part of our request to the Department for additional staffing beyond existing sanction, we also sought a review of our commission structure and scope to make sure we could match the new needs and priorities in policy and the directives and regulations coming from Europe. That is an important point that should not be missed either.

I know there is limited time but there is a third strand to the Deputy's question related to data centres and the future pathway. Ms MacEvilly will speak to that.