Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Government is not proactively reviewing this policy. It is reviewing it now because of outrage over the lack of analysis in relation to the damage done by data centres. I fully accept that we need data centres and that they are part of the modern economy. What I do not accept is the thumbs up that was given in 2018, three years after we passed a climate action plan and one year before we declared a climate and biodiversity emergency. My difficulty is with the type of analysis that was done by Grant Thornton at the time. I do not blame Grant Thornton. It did what it was asked, but the analysis took no cognisance of what was happening in relation to the emergency. That is my difficulty. No cognisance has been taken of what has been said by EirGrid in relation to the developer-led approach of data centres, and no cognisance has been taken of the fact that this week, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has told us that we have no choice but to take action. That is my difficulty. When exactly will we have the new strategy?

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