Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)

First of all, I thank the Deputies for raising those issues. Deputy Bacik raised the question of how we square the circle as regards data centres and AI. There needs to be a balanced debate in this House on this question because digitalisation and the green economy are both pathways we have to pursue. There is no question about that. I would take issue with Deputy Coppinger’s statement that we have to stop "worshipping" AI and "worshipping" data centres. Nobody worships anything, but we do have a realistic assessment that AI is going to have an extraordinary impact on the world of employment and how society is organised. If the Deputy wants to put her head in the sand, then she should put her head in the sand, but that will not advance the country. It will not advance employment. It will not advance society itself. We have to engage and be leaders in AI.

Deputy Bacik referenced the moratorium. That is problematic, too. We have had an effective moratorium for the past two to three years on data centres. There have been some contracted into, which will come on stream later in the decade, but AI will use an awful lot more energy, by definition. We have a challenge between now and 2030 or 2031, that period by when, I hope, our offshore wind farms will have gone through planning and all the rest of it and we can have had minimal objections and got the wind farms built. That will power our energy needs in the 2030s. It is between now and then that we certainly have a challenge and we certainly have an issue in terms of squaring the circle. The Government is working on that. It is not a choice between housing and data centres. Every person on the street has a need for data centres, by the way, in terms of our everyday activities and so forth. The idea of trying to paint them as the big bad entity, as it were, in this context does not make sense.

Deputy Byrne raised an important issue. I attended the UN ocean summit recently hosted by France. Ireland is increasingly making a significant contribution to the international debate on the oceans. Regarding coastal erosion, I invite the Deputy to make a submission to the Minister for public expenditure. I certainly will be doing that. I will talk abut and raise this issue at central government level. I believe that, on adaptation, we need to do far more in terms of capital provision for adapting to climate change. Climate change is here and now; it is not something that is going to come in ten years' time. It is affecting flooding. It is eroding coastlines. It is putting homes in danger. It is affecting food production patterns and so on. I believe that, in the next national development plan, there has to be ring-fenced funding for the cost of climate change to enable us to adapt to protect. It would be useful, knowing that the Deputy has been successful in the past in making various submissions to various bodies, if he could likewise make a submission in this regard. It is important.

Deputy Ó Cearúil spoke about the risks and private wire legislation, which Deputy Heneghan has raised consistently, to be fair. The Minister, Deputy O’Brien, has initiated the sustainable use of public and private assets, SUPPA, group. There had not been a lot of work done on it before that, if I am honest. Now, he has instructed the Department to prepare the legislation. I have spoken to the Attorney General and work is under way in respect of a private wires dimension to this, which will be very important and will give greater flexibility to companies and so on. Storm Éowyn illustrated the risks.

Regarding Deputy Moynihan and skills, there is a significant degree of work going on. The Minister of State, Marian Harkin, has particular responsibility for the area of green skills. Skillnet, which the Deputy knows is a business-supported network for skills development in companies, has funding available to it in respect of green skills. It is present in further and higher education. There has been a lot of transition from people in the fossil fuels industry to the renewable industry. It is an extremely important area that we are very much focused on.

In respect of Deputy McDonald's question on the Bord na Móna recycling unit, the industrial relations mechanisms are there. I will ask Bord na Móna to engage on the issue. I will speak to the Minister about it also.

Deputy Heneghan raised the issue of private wires, which is in the programme for Government.

As I said, the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, is preparing the legislation and has instructed his officials to do so.

Deputy Ó Murchú raised the issue of flood mitigation. Flooding is a big issue. We have a lot of consultation on and objection to flood relief plans, infrastructure developments and so on to prevent flooding. We need to accelerate them and we ask people, if they could, to hold off on the objections. It is extraordinary the degree to which some very worthy projects have been delayed. The objective is to protect people's homes, businesses and farmlands from being flooded, yet there is an inordinate delay in the planning process and so on in getting them done.

The insurance issue is ongoing. I dealt with it again last week. The State supports by compensation where flooding happens. The insurance companies have a responsibility and they need to step up to the plate in respect of it, particularly in areas where flooding infrastructure has been put in place. We still hear reports that some insurance companies do not offer policies after that has been done.

See this speech in context