Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will say to every Deputy in advance that I cannot make commitments today in respect of the budget. The budget will be announced by the Ministers, Deputies Michael McGrath and Donohoe, shortly.

Regarding data centres, the Deputy is right. Data centres and, more importantly, the retention of data - it has to be retained somewhere - are contributing to the increased demand for electricity in the world and will continue to do so as long as we decide to retain data. The same applies to electric vehicles, electric heat pumps and the electrification of industry. We are encouraging people to go electric. The solution is not to shut down industry, to tell people not to replace their oil heating systems or get electric vehicles or to cancel the electrification of railways. The solution is to produce more electricity, particularly from renewable sources.

The carbon tax is an important climate action measure. The majority of climate scientists, including many Nobel prize winners, are adamant that climate action cannot be achieved unless carbon taxes and carbon pricing are part of the solution. However, a proportion of those receipts will be ring-fenced to assist people in fuel poverty in particular.

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