Mr. Feargal O'Rourke:

This is a societal issue. The impact on FDI is very much of a secondary or tertiary nature. The Deputy outlined issues with housing, renewable energy, the grid and water. These are probably the four areas. Again, the optimist in me would say we had the same housing pressures last year and yet it was another great year for foreign direct investment. It looks like more than 30,000 houses will be built this year, so the Government's Housing for All programme is delivering on the targets. What is coming back, though, is that those targets are not high enough and that we may need 50,000 new houses to be built next year.

Housing has been referred to in the context of inward investment. It is not proving to be a negative factor yet for us. On power, I think this issue is probably one of transition. If we look out to 2030, our current demand for about 6 GW to 7 GW is scheduled to be about 10 GW in 2030, of which 80% is predicted to be renewable power. Now, much of this increased supply will meet the increase in demand from data centres, electric vehicles and the growth in the economy. If we get to 2030 with a supply of about 10 GW, of which 80% were to be renewable, that would be fantastic. It is getting from here to there in this transition period where there may be bumps along the road.

Right now, again, I think we are still ahead of the game. I met the chair of EirGrid this week. He was filling me in regarding the investment programme it has for the years to come. Whether we are talking now about water, the grid system or renewable power, there are plans in train. The quicker we can get to 2030, if this does not sound like a contradiction, the better. At the moment, I think we are just ahead of the game. I do not think, though, that we can afford to slow the progress we are making concerning investment in the grid, renewable power and housing over the next five or six years. If we were to slow progress in this regard, then we will run into issues.