Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)

The Minister used the words "disingenuous" and "red herring". I am referring to a warning raised by the Secretary General of the Minister's own Department. It is a warning and an issue. She spoke about a balance between AI, particularly the highly intensive data centres required for new AI developments, and housing. If there is a red herring, it was not I who raised it originally. I made the point in an earlier question about 21% use of energy by data centres here in Ireland right now. The next nearest country is Singapore at 7.5%. That is the difference. It will grow to 28% if all of those 40 data centres about which I spoke earlier are granted planning permission. The Minister already set out how some of the big offshore wind projects have been delayed because of An Bord Pleanála's decisions. How will we bridge that gap and, at the same time, decarbonise the huge parts of our economy that still rely on fossil fuels and need to be decarbonised?

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