Mr. Mark Foley:

For two years, we have not executed a connection offer with a large energy user, data centre or otherwise. That is because there is a conflict or gap between Government policy and regulatory policy. I do not have a basis on which to sign a contract with a large energy user. We need clear Government policy which reconciles its commitment to the digital economy, on the one hand, and our climate action targets, on the other. Out of that must come an appropriate regulatory policy to allow us to sign contracts. At the moment, I cannot sign a contract with anyone in this space because of the policy lacuna. We have made our position known to the Government, namely, that this problem needs to be resolved. The consequences of not resolving it are that key actors in the digital economy might decide they cannot do business here. We are concerned about that. We have been open in our honest articulation that this in an important consideration for Ireland. We are not saying that everyone should be connected. We are saying we need something that allows for an appropriate hierarchy of digital economy players to have some certainty about their long-term investment in the Irish economy. We are currently closed for business, which is unhelpful.