Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome this debate and the publication of the report. It is an incontrovertible fact that our ambition in respect of climate transformation creates risks that we must plan for. This certainly helps us to do that. It is equally incontrovertible, however, that the more successful our climate strategy is, the less dependent we will become on imported fossil fuels and all the unsavoury sources that some of those fuels must come from.

One of the difficulties in the present debate, fuelled by the failure of the last renewable electricity supply scheme, RESS, auction, is that we have distorted the debate about what is important for Ireland and how we can be successful in this regard. In particular, I deplore the casting of data centres as the villains of the piece. The reality is that data centres have contributed to a 9% increase in demand over five years. This should have been capable of being delivered, but the failure of the RESS auction and to generate energy has distorted this situation. It is commonplace now, though, to hear people in this House pretending that data centres are something to abhor. The reality is they are the backbone of the digital revolution that brings streaming to our mobile phones, makes remote working possible, frees us from unnecessary journeys and makes our systems smart and enhances our capacity to do things in a better way. This digital revolution is also central to Ireland's lead in the digital economy, which we have successfully developed over a significant time. This is not something we should lightly cast aside, nor should we cast aside those at the heart of this as villains in the unfolding challenges we see in the energy market.

Indeed, in the long term, we have a huge capacity for offshore energy generation. We also have a competitive advantage in managing data centres because of our climate. Let us also not forget that data centres are in the electricity trading system under EU rules. They are not part of the carbon dioxide emissions that we need to manage down through direct policies. This aspect is done through the trading system which ensures data centres are located in the places where it is most efficient to do so. To some degree, therefore, we are distorting this debate because we are seeking to forget about this important distinction in EU policy and to pretend that we are ones to make decisions on data centres solely in domestic terms. In reality, under the provisions of our EU carbon dioxide obligations, it is recognised that data centres, like other things, should be located in the most carbon-efficient locations possible. In the long term, ours is just such a country, with our offshore capacity for energy generation. This is not to mention the investment we have made in developing a digital lead.

I find today's report a challenging read. At one level, its message is simple. It states that the mitigation options in an energy security strategy should be such that there is no chance of increasing gas dependence. From that perspective, this rules out any commercial element because of the risk those companies would want to exploit the gas for commercial purposes. The report also rules out all options but storage, renewables and stand-by capacity. It fails, however, to deal with the risks and costs of disruption. It also does not fully delve in how we should rank the various options it gives the green light to. It sells us short in allowing us to make the sort of decisions we need to make. I turn now to those in the House, and this does not include me, who are suspicious of the decision to end gas exploration.

The argument for that in this report is less than convincing. It simply states that further gas exploration could risk more gas dependence. It could at one level but, at the same time, we have to have regard to the risks it might mitigate and to the fact that it does not have to involve a cost to the State. We need a more mature debate on this.

I welcome that a significant concentration on demand flexibility is being built into this measure. Demand flexibility is one of the features of data centres. It should be, as others have said, part of our long-term approach to energy security.

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