Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy is completely missing the point. When Apple proposed this project it was quite clear to it that there was ample energy for its needs in the area. That is why it went ahead with the process. The problem is the planning process here and the Deputy failed to mention that. In fact, the Deputy acknowledged the planning process at the start of his question. We want to provide certainty in the future for new data centres in Ireland. I attended a number of data centre conferences in recent times and the interest here is phenomenal. Ireland is becoming an attractive location for data centres. I have outlined the reasons why this is the case - our climate, our education and our environment. We are also a digital leader in Europe. We can compete with any other country in northern Europe for these centres. Data is extremely important to digital. It is the gold of the future.

The delays were caused by planning. The planning process is cumbersome and lengthy and involves court processes. The Government wants to change that. That is why the Taoiseach has proposed fast-tracking these projects, because there is a lot of interest in them. Balanced regional development is very important to us. The Deputy himself said that Dublin is full of data centres. We want to attract data centres to different parts of the country, not just to the greater Dublin area. We are speeding up the process to ensure that we have strategic infrastructure for the country in the future. Data centres are the oil of the future. Currently there is a two step planning process, involving the local authority and An Bord Pleanála. We want to investigate the possibility of having a one step process and have more pre-planning consultancy. That would be important and would get that message across to other data centres out there.

It is important to repeat that Apple has not abandoned this project. It is part of its future and people such as the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Cannon, are very much part of this as well and are supportive of this project. I support this project; I am from County Clare, just over the border from Galway. The Deputy is missing the point. The problem here is the planning process; it has nothing to do with renewable energy.

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