Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Of course, the European Council also noted that ultimately we need to accelerate the energy transition so that Europe is not at the whim of third countries for its energy supply. We talk about Ireland's opportunity with offshore wind, but when we look at the potential of offshore wind on the Atlantic coast, it is as much a European opportunity as an Irish opportunity. We have so much more generation potential than other European countries, and with the development of a pan-European supergrid, we can help to power the Continent and create jobs on the western seaboard in counties like my own, Limerick, as well as in Kerry, Clare, Galway, Mayo, Sligo and Donegal.

Digitalisation is a key focus for the European Council and we may need to focus more on it at home. My colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth, was in Limerick yesterday to meet organisations and businesses. As one of the Ministers responsible for digitalisation and e-government, he is committed to making Government services more accessible and efficient. One of the success stories, despite the recent delays in application processing, has been the online passport application system, which was developed by ActionPoint, a company in my constituency. E-government can deliver significant savings to the Exchequer and can make citizens' interactions with Government easier and quicker.

In the private sector, the Council has focused on data portability. Allowing citizens and companies to move their data between platforms decreases lock-in to proprietary platforms and increases competition. As we have seen from the activities of social media firms, there are competition concerns if a few companies become dominant in their sectors. We are right to pursue a regulatory regime that encourages competition, privacy and interoperability.

The HSE cyber hack in Ireland reminded us of the importance of digital systems resilient to attack and the large human and economic damage that can be caused by criminals. Part of our strategy to improve cybersecurity must be led at a European level. Co-operation between countries in Europe will help us maintain resilience and the safety of our systems in particular against cyberattacks.

I conclude by returning to the COP26 meeting in Glasgow. Ireland and Europe need to lead on global ambition on climate. As the Taoiseach said yesterday:

Those of us in the developed world - those who have, frankly, contributed most to the problems that confront us all - have an obligation to support those who are most acutely challenged by their consequences. Ireland accepts that obligation.

I repeat these words of the Taoiseach and endorse them. The time to act is now.

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