Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy stated that he accepts the planning process. I recognise that the project in question would be a landmark investment for Galway and the west. The Deputy left County Clare out of his contribution but it is very important to Athenry, which is just up the road from the county. Most parts of County Clare are accessible from Athenry within 20 or 30 minutes, especially with the new motorway. It is important to us and it is why, as Minister of State with responsibility for data protection, I have taken a special interest in the project. It would have significant benefits for Athenry and the local area, as well as a real positive impact on the wider regional economy. That is why the Government remains very keen for the project to go ahead.

As we know, the Taoiseach visited the US last week and met senior management from Apple. He made it clear that the project has the full support of our Government and of the local community in Athenry. He also stressed that Ireland is a country that values and supports technological investment like that being proposed in this case. Members, including the Deputy, will recognise that this is ultimately a commercial decision for the company to make. We know such decisions can be informed by a range of different factors but we will continue to encourage Apple to proceed with the data centre project in Athenry.

More generally, the delays that have beset this project have served to underline the need to have an efficient and speedy planning process in place in this country.

It is incumbent on us to ensure that similar projects are not unreasonably delayed again in the future. The Government has already been taking steps to avoid a repeat of this situation. This may include the designation of data centres as strategic infrastructure developments for planning purposes. That would help ensure that future data centre-related planning applications can move swiftly through the planning process. Other measures to streamline the planning process may also be considered. I can talk to the Deputy about that later on.

I want to be absolutely clear that while the company has not committed to proceeding immediately, it has not abandoned the project in Galway. The company has instead said that its potential investment in Athenry remains under active consideration. Given the planning issues have now been resolved, we are certainly optimistic that the data centre will proceed in the future. I can assure the Deputy that the IDA is in active dialogue with the company from their two offices in northern and southern California. It is talking to Apple on a weekly basis. I spoke with the chief of the IDA, Mr. Martin Shanahan, this evening about the issue and he assured me that no stone is being left unturned to ensure that projects like this come to Ireland. There is a future for data in this country. I am travelling to California myself in the new year and I hope to assure Apple of Ireland's importance as a centre for data centres.

Data centres remain an important aspect of Ireland's foreign direct investment offering. The strengths we have to offer for this type of project include our climate, which the Deputy referred to, our energy supply, our business environment and our educated workforce. These are well known and are committed for other investors as well. We are a digital leader in northern Europe. Many leading companies have announced significant data centre investments here, and the IDA continues to work day-in and day-out to secure further such projects for the country. The year 2016 was a record year for FDI in Ireland, both in terms of the number of jobs created and investments won. We are on track for more strong results for 2017 and this shows we are continuing to attract capital-rich foreign direct investment projects to Ireland and we will continue to do so. Data centres are extremely important for us, and will continue to be important.

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