Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

No, but I can say that the value of data centres is not the people who are employed in them. There is no digital economy without data centres. All sectors of the economy are moving onto digital platforms. If we want to develop a resilient economy in the future that can protect the quality of life we have in Ireland, that can provide the kind of employment and career opportunities that many young people now have and so on, and if we want to attract the best companies in the world to come to Ireland to develop new products here, whether it is in pharma, tech or medical technology, then data is central to everything.