Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Far from being on target to cut our greenhouse gas emissions by 51% by 2030, or by 5% per year, according to An Taisce, which is littered with eminent scientists on this issue, we are on track to exceed the combined ten-year carbon budget by between 23% and 36%. That is exceeding the budget and we are on track to do that. The climate movement will not be cheering the Green Party. Almost three years into its decision to prop up Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in government, we are beginning to see clearly what a disaster that has been for the climate movement and crisis. Not only are emissions rising but the spin the Government is committed to will lock in and guarantee failures.

I want to talk briefly about that in relation to electricity, which was mentioned earlier. Our demand for electricity has risen by 9% and uniquely in Europe, that is driven by the demand from data centres. We have 16 more data centres coming on stream that will be hooked up to the national grid. How can the Minister of State say we are taking climate action seriously when we are in these energy-intensive areas and using up our best energy?

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