Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy is correct that we must ensure our planning matches other objectives, including our decarbonisation objectives. Included in that is the planning of the grid system because that is probably the biggest constraint. It is one thing if something has planning permission, but whether it can get a grid connection and has good access to the grid is probably the main constraint. That is why EirGrid's consultation is key. Every sector of the economy, such as the transport, agriculture and industrial sectors, including data centres, must fit in with our new climate action plan. To my mind, they can.

We always have to think about where we are going next if it is 70% by 2030. We have agreed this. We all have collectively said that we think offshore wind has the potential for us to go even further, such as an additional 30 GW. That is the scale. It is almost nine times what we are using at present in terms of scale. There will be opportunities in this country whereby, if we locate them correctly and have the grid correctly connected to them, we will be able to run data centres efficiently with low carbon, and possibly look at other matters. We are starting to look at Tallaght, for example, and how we use that data centre. The Deputy is correct that we must consider the water use as well. We must also look at the heat and, perhaps, the potential use of heat from data centres for local district heating and other purposes. That overall planning is critical. The Deputy is correct that it must be centre stage.

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