Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

No, but tens of thousands of people are employed in the companies associated with those data centres. The data centres are the core of their business. These are all cloud-based companies now. That the cloud-based companies are here is a significant reason for other investments coming here. We have been working with the companies on the basis that any new data centres will have to live within a system where we can provide the power and the grid connections. That has been a constraint issue in the last two years. We are starting to address it with emergency power generation, new renewables coming on stream and new interconnection, all of which will help. Critically, it is to design and develop data centres that are zero-carbon. There needs to be a combination of use of renewable power, use of flexible demand and use of waste heat. For example, I believe Tallaght is using an Amazon data centre to heat some of the buildings in south Dublin. We should go further in that and look at all the flexibilities that will be needed so that data centres can empirically show they are part of the solution and not part of the problem. I think that is possible.

The country benefits not just by having the data centres here but also the Irish companies that build, service and run them are highly advanced. We are probably one of the most advanced countries in the world in building and running data centres. We should not turn our back on that. However, we should develop and will develop the expertise to do it in a zero-carbon way which is where that industry is going. No industry can get an out. Those companies cannot be in operation in ten years' time if they are not meeting the scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions targets. Why should we not look to become a world leader in that next stage of data centre development? It will take a number of years to build up that capability, get the grid connections and in particular have the power security in renewables to be able to service it. However, that demand management flexibility is key and the use of waste heat is key. The use of the backup services they have to support our grid is where we will go.

This new industrial revolution is a digital and clean energy one. The two go together. The balance in capability between variable supply and variable demand is delivered by use of those digital networks. I see us having a real advantage by being good at that. There is no open door. No new data centres have been approved in the last three years in my time in government. However, we are working with the companies to start looking at a future where that can be done in a way that is in line with our climate obligations.