Mr. Joe Boland:

I would not say that there is any conflict within Kildare County Council in respect of data centres.

Data centres are not without their complexities, even leaving aside climate action elements regarding issues of transport and access. It can be challenging from a planning perspective but I would not say there is any conflict. There are many challenges in progressing a data centre. My colleague, Mr. Bergin, set out the scene in Dublin. One aspect in that respect that has been considered in Kildare is the issue of water usage and the possibility of locating a centre close to a treatment plant where it could recycle grey water. There are many aspects to it but I would not say there is any conflict, however, there are challenges from a spatial planning perspective.

On the one-stop-shop model, sustainable energy communities were referenced by Deputy O'Rourke and he is on the right track with that initiative. There is growing interest in sustainable energy communities. Twenty five of them are registered in Kildare, six are ready to progress to a master plan stage, which is positive. I am aware of one good example of that initiative in Dunleer in County Louth on foot of a presentation to our strategic planning committee, SPC, two weeks ago. Sustainable energy communities benefit the whole community. They are sponsored by Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI. That initiative is strong in Kildare, Meath and Wicklow and the example of it I cited in County Louth is quite good also. My colleague, Mr. Dodd, said there were 120 of them nationally. There is a role for them to interact with individual householders, community groups and industry to advise on the grants available for retrofits or more sustainable systems. There are also opportunities for local energy renewal initiatives. That is being progressed in Dunleer in County Louth. There is potential for the exchange and imparting of information on sustainability to local householders and communities. Each of the climate action regional offices, CAROs, has been assigned a specialism. We would seek in our CARO to increase our knowledge in this area and in the context of the next round of plans to bring forward guidance for local authorities to get more sustainable energy communities up and running. That is one avenue for imparting information on sustainability. I hope that response is helpful to the Deputy.