Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

There is no doubt that we are in the grip of a severe energy crisis. What is more terrifying is the fact that the Government is knowingly and purposely leading us down a dangerous path. Energy import dependency is said to be one of the simplest and most widely-used indicators of a country's energy security. Ireland is very heavily dependent on imported fossil fuels and, given this, our energy security is at very high risk. This is something that requires action beyond the empty words spoken at COP26.

It is extremely concerning to read EirGrid's winter outlook and that our electricity system will be operating at double the maximum safety threshold for potential loss of power. The prediction that this country could face electricity deficits for the next five years is particularly worrying. The fact that we may be facing winter power blackouts is truly terrifying, yet somehow this Government does not seem too fazed about this prospect. Instead we are expected to roll out the red carpet for data centres, which are set to double our power demand by the end of the decade. We are expected to make personal sacrifices, to wrap up and reduce our electricity consumption in order to cut carbon emissions, while at the same time welcoming the development of data centres that guzzle all our energy. We are expected to accept over 30 different price increase announcements from energy suppliers, with costs expected to rise by a staggering €500 per household. We are expected to accept that this is the way it has to be because Amazon, Facebook and all the other big tech companies that have this Government lining their pockets say so. I refuse to accept this.

The Government’s climate action plan states that data centres are forecast to take up to 23% of Ireland’s electricity demand by 2030. This is absolutely shocking. Despite this, we are not imposing any environmental conditions on these centres, which are putting huge pressure on our country’s energy infrastructure. At the very least, we should oblige them to pay an environmental tax, to tax them for the demands they are putting on our electricity infrastructure and our water resources. Each data centre is the equivalent of a large town in the amount of water it uses. Where will data centres get the water? We will supply it. Who will pay for it? We will. It is unacceptable that this Government is willing to look after these big corporations over the needs of its citizens. It asks citizens to make sacrifices, endure price hikes and to pay ridiculous carbon taxes, as if it would make an iota of difference what individuals do when data centres are not subject to any environmental conditions. We must have a better-managed system for data centres. We cannot expect citizens to pay carbon taxes without enforcing a pollution tax on those centres.

Such a tax would provide more funding for things like increasing the fuel allowance and assisting with the backlog of Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, grant applications. I have constituents in Donegal who have been waiting over two years to be awarded their SEAI grant.

There is no point blaming Covid-19 for this because there were long waiting times prior to 2020. A pollution tax would give us the means to properly fund policies to support sustainable energy and transport rather than having unfair carbon taxes, which we know disproportionately affect low-income families and especially those in rural communities with extremely limited access to public transport or alternative fuel sources.

I have spoken before about the huge potential of wind and hydroelectric power. Given our position off the north Atlantic, we are sitting on a potential gold mine of renewable energy. It has been proven that Ireland could be energy independent in the next ten years using only wind and hydroelectric power. We have seen that a Norwegian company has withdrawn from a partnership with the ESB in the past week or so. Such events make a mockery of everything the Government states it is doing in becoming climate resilient and building a climate action plan. Companies are walking away when we might think they are the be-all and end-all. Perhaps Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael were not too interested in a state-owned company and perhaps if it had been a private sector company, they would have bent over backwards to ensure it could be looked after.

Numerous Members have mentioned Bord na Móna stopping the harvesting of peat but we are importing peat briquettes from Germany hand over fist. That does not make sense. How can the Government stop the manufacturing of peat briquettes and not stop the importing of those briquettes into the country? How can we expect people to buy into a climate action plan or the need to reduce our carbon usage when we see such stupid acts? It is nonsensical and we must stop such activity to get people to have faith in the idea that the Government is working on their behalf. That is what it comes down to.

It seems the Government is working on behalf of data centres and not the citizens of the country. We all know consumerism and capitalism are the real causes of environmental decline and in order to truly address the energy crisis we need to stop the development of these data centres, which are to the detriment of our citizens. I ask the same important question as Mr. Niall Williams; how much of the world do we have to destroy in order to save it?

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