Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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There are two things there. The Department published an updated policy on data centres which I am happy to come in here to discuss at length today or any day members want to do that. That sets out where we stand in relation to data centres. They have responsibilities to reduce their energy usage. They support society and create many jobs. Each individual data centre, you could argue, does not create thousands of jobs, but it supports thousands of jobs. Is the Deputy totally opposed to data centres or just opposed to having them in Ireland? I am not sure where he stands on that, but they are needed to support most people in their daily lives.

As to the companies which can draw this down, that is something we can monitor when the scheme is up and running. We will be in a position to have this conversation at a later stage. The Deputy is assuming they will apply. I do not know if they will. We will see. There are a number of schemes which different sectors can avail of. We will track usage of them. The scheme is mainly here to reach and support many SMEs. The cap is in place to deal with a situation where companies might be able to eat into the scheme. The funds we have are limited. The cap is there to prevent some companies drawing down too much of this and reducing the pot for everybody else. We think the scheme is quite well designed. It does not mean it is perfect. No one can claim that.