Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The issues around capacity were raised last September. We are having this debate today because we are now facing an emergency.

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate. I welcome some of the aims of the Bill, including to increase the backup electricity generation capacity to ensure we have enough to meet demand over the coming years. That is needed to avoid blackouts. However, we cannot escape the reasons we have arrived at this juncture. We are debating this legislation today as a direct result of failed Government policy. I know that is true because when it is pointed out to Government Deputies, they get very sore and fractious and they start to interrupt people.

The shortfall in electricity supply is primarily due to the rapid expansion of data centres in this country, which is fuelled by Government decisions. Are we surprised by this? No, we are not. We need only look at the damage vulture funds have done to the housing market in this State while paying hardly a red cent in tax. It was Fine Gael that let the real estate investment trust, REITs, into the State to wreak havoc and it is Fine Gael that has allowed data centres to pop up everywhere. Time and again, we hear Fine Gael politicians talking about Ireland Inc. That is how they view our State - as a business, not a society with a community of people. There should be no confusion that would lead people to believe the problems the State faces are accidental or somehow happened by mistake. Very often, they have arisen as a result of conscious policy decisions. The red carpet was rolled out for data centres. Fine Gael sought to make Ireland the data centre capital of the world, with no thought for the impact this would have on our electricity supply. This is what happens when a political party acts like a portfolio manager or agent for big business, rather than acting as a Government, the job of which is to safeguard the energy security of our citizens.

It is patently clear we have a problem with the prevalence of data centres. This legislation reveals the Government has finally realised that. There are now 70 operational data centres in Ireland. Dublin has become the largest data centre hub in Europe. Moreover, in north County Dublin, a number of new centres are under construction. We know where the problems lie, what has caused them and where to lay the blame as we find ourselves in this emergency situation.

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