Ms Jean Carberry:

We are acutely aware of the data centre issue. Ms Bartley and I are working closely with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications and the Department of the Taoiseach on a work plan to address this issue. It is not just data centres; it is all large energy users. It is a key constraint. We will take a paper to the Cabinet committee on economy next Monday, setting out our plans to address the issue. We are looking at it from a medium-term and a long-term perspective. The most important thing is necessary investment in the grid beginning now so that data centres and other large energy users can plan for investment that can begin operating in 2030 and beyond. These are long-term and large-scale investments. If we begin planning now for 2030, that is the certainty businesses need. Everybody has a role in ensuring that the investment in the grid and infrastructure which we need is prioritised by the Government.

What we are hearing, certainly from the IDA, is that this is a huge constraint on attracting the next wave of investment that we want to be at the centre of, in the context of AI, technology and also in general. We are certainly working hard to ensure that infrastructure and grid investment can take place, but we need everybody's support.