Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

While Sinn Féin supports the Bill, it is a direct consequence of the failure of the Government and the ones that came before it to prepare for increased demand with changing demographics and, of course, the prevalence of energy-hungry data centres. This Bill will allow EirGrid to acquire new emergency electricity generation capacity. This will be done by increasing EirGrid's borrowing limit and that of Bord na Móna. It is being done because policies of this Government have taken on additional demand for electricity but have not made any provisions to meet the increased demand. That is particularly the case in the area of data centres. The last Fine Gael Government rolled out the red carpet for data centres and sought to make Ireland the data centre capital of the world with no thought about the impact this would have on our electricity supply. Today we are dealing with the consequences. The pressure these centres are putting on the grid is immense. They are now using 14% of all our electricity, as much as all the homes in rural Ireland combined. This is set to rise to at least 30% of all the State's electricity by 2030. While the ESRI estimates that nearly a third of Irish households are experiencing energy poverty, we are dealing with the possibility of blackouts because the last Fine Gael-led Government did not make provision for the strain data centres would put on supply and ultimately the availability of electricity for households.

This Bill, when passed, will see EirGrid's borrowing limit increase to €3 billion to allow for investment in the Celtic interconnector with France and other investments that are necessary to ensure the grid can accommodate up to 80% renewable energy by 2030. While we will support the Bill, in our amendments we are asking for information about the procurement of these additional generators to be shared with the Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action. We also need to see a report on the policy failures that led us to the point where we need to procure emergency additional capacity. Those who brought us towards this situation need to be held to account.

The Bill will also increase Bord na Móna's borrowing capacity to €650 million to help it fund its expansion into renewable energy. This is welcome because we need the State to retain as much ownership as possible of our energy production capacity. We also need to see real progress in the provision of renewable energy, again with the State retaining ownership. Finally, we need to see the publication of the energy security review so we can accurately assess the threat we are faced with in terms of our ability to provide for this country, especially when we have to prepare for the future in the midst of increasing international uncertainty.

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