Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

They will behave very well. It is important we recognise that a lot of time when we talk about energy security, we talk about immediate needs and the here and now. Obviously, that is what people will be the most concerned about – this and the following winter. However, we also need think ten or 20 years down the road for when these children, their friends and children like them are adults. What kind of Ireland and energy security will we have at that point? Will they get to live in an Ireland that has secure, safe and sustainable energy? That is where we want to be going with this. The discussions we are having today are not just about what happens in the winter coming but also the kind of future our communities, business and residents will live in. That is something that we need to be conscious of.

I only have six and a half minutes to talk and energy security is obviously an incredibly complex issue. I will not even touch on the needs. I want to think about it as the systemic issues that I see – not about specific things but the overarching problems we are facing. There are three issues I want to highlight.

The first is the level of accountability. There needs to be a single entity in charge. What we have seen, whether at the climate committee, in the media or in any of the debates and discussions on energy security, is the CRU, EirGrid and the Government pointing at each other and saying it is the fault of the other. We had that at the climate committee and then we had the Taoiseach saying no one made him aware there was an issue. The first thing we need to get on the record is that it is the responsibility of the Government to keep the lights on in this country for businesses and homes. That is where the buck stops and that needs to be acknowledged. The CRU and EirGrid are statutory entities set up to assist with that but, fundamentally, it is the responsibility of the Government to do this.

The second thing is we need to acknowledge what the problem is. There has been a failure to do so through many years. There has been a tension between energy security, needs and planning, and trying to bring in enterprise, business and job opportunities to the country. There has been a complete imbalance in that regard. The focus has been far too much on bringing in certain corporations or enabling certain developments in the belief they are necessary for job creation, but then fundamentally undermining our ability to keep lights on in businesses. That results in significant reputational damage for other businesses. There has been an imbalance in that regard. Since 2017, we have been warned that the grid was going to be under pressure, and that has increasingly come to pass. We have not seen the necessary level of investment by successive governments or the required level of implementation or delivery on the grid through those years, so capacity has essentially stalled while at the same time we have had an incredible growth in demand. The majority of that growth is coming from large energy users such as data centres. That has not been acknowledged as a fault or flaw in Government policy to date, and that is important.

In addition, we need to look at what those big problems are and turn them into the solutions. There are a number of data centres that have incredible generating capacity. Many of them can produce their own energy. In the interests of the immediate energy security of the country, I ask the Minister - I do not know whether this has happened yet - to ensure the CRU or the Department speaks to the data centres, particularly the big ones, to find out whether they have capacity that can be made dispatchable to the grid to assist as a short-term measure. There is infrastructure in place and that is something that is worthwhile doing. It may prevent the need to build or create additional generation. In the context of the capacity and problems of data centres, those centres will account for 28% of electricity usage by 2030, which is a considerable challenge. We are aware the consumption has already been a challenge. My party and I do not believe that was managed properly, unfortunately. A year and a half ago, we tabled a motion seeking a temporary moratorium on data centres until all this was sorted out. Unfortunately, the Government did not agree and we are now suffering the consequences of that.

Another issue that has been highlighted in the EirGrid all-island capacity statement this year is that while data centres will account for 28% of electricity demand by 2030, electric vehicles and heat pumps will amount to 13% by 2030. It will go from 2% to 13%, which is quite an increase and will represent a significant proportion of electricity demand. The Social Democrats has repeatedly made the point to the Government that there is a need to invest now in solar. Every house in the country should be generating its own electricity that would assist with and mitigate any of the demand risks that will come from EVs or heat pumps. EVs can act as batteries on an individual home basis. We ask the Government not just to come out with phrases such as "rooftop revolution" but to drive a rooftop revolution, put the money behind it and make sure people can afford to do it. We believe the Government should pay, especially for those who would meet the criteria for the warmer homes scheme. The Government should roll these schemes out quickly through entire estates. An estate of houses could be done in a matter of weeks. The Government should get it done. It would help people this winter and it would help the grid in ten years' time. The Government needs to focus on solar. I hope the Minister will bring that back to the Department.

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