Ms Marie Donnelly:

Revising the gas Act presents an ideal opportunity to take on board what we recommended in general about including government priorities within the Act. I have not seen the amendments so I do not know whether that is foreseen in them, but that would certainly be an amendment in line with what we recommended and would be particularly opportune at this point.

I will jump for a moment to one possible area in respect of district heating. My understanding is that the policy paper that came out in the summer was a little open as to who might regulate or operate that. In that context, we could also think about Uisce Éireann because it is used to dealing with large pipes full of water. It is cold water for the most part but district heating is basically large pipes full of hot water. Uisce Éireann has an expertise there. This is something that will emerge from the discussions as they go forward.

One of the things we talk about as regards data centres and heat, and this relates to what Deputy Bruton raised, is that it is about a novel approach to looking at energy. We can neither create nor destroy energy; we can only change it. We change it from wind into electricity and from electricity into heat. It then dissipates or whatever. Part of the challenge we have is to be able to capture the movement of energy. The district heating system is a very good opportunity to capture one of the opportunities of moving energy around. It is something the council has been very strong about for quite a while now. It is a pity that we cannot be clearer about the opportunities it represents for local authorities to already start identifying areas where it can be rolled out. It will be an infrastructural roll-out. It will potentially mean digging up roads or whatever. It represents enormous opportunities for individuals and the country. It is something that is a priority to be done.