Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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1. To ask the Taoiseach when the climate action plan progress reports for the remainder of 2024 will be published by his Department. [16740/25]

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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2. To ask the Taoiseach when the climate action plan progress reports for the remainder of 2024 will be published. [29328/25]

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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3. To ask the Taoiseach when the climate action plan progress reports for the remainder of 2024 will be published by his Department. [29591/25]

Malcolm Byrne (Wicklow-Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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4. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on climate action, environment and energy will next meet. [29735/25]

Naoise Ó Cearúil (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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5. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on climate action, environment and energy will next meet. [29736/25]

Shane Moynihan (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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6. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on climate action, environment and energy will next meet. [29737/25]

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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7. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on climate action, environment and energy will next meet. [32103/25]

Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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8. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on climate action, environment and energy will next meet. [32403/25]

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 8, inclusive, together.

The Cabinet committee on climate action, environment and energy oversees the implementation of the programme for Government commitments on the environment, climate action, energy and emergency planning. It considers the wide range of issues that require action in Ireland's transition to a low-carbon, climate resilient and sustainable future: a future in which we take full advantage of the renewable energy potential that we possess. It also oversees implementation of the climate action plan. The committee meets quarterly. The first meeting took place on 7 April and the next meeting is scheduled to take place in July.

The Department of the Taoiseach tracks the delivery of actions committed to in the climate action plan and publishes quarterly progress reports. Following approval by the Government, progress reports and detailed tables of actions completed and delayed are published online. The progress report for quarters 3 and 4 of the Climate Action Plan 2024 was published in April and shows an overall implementation rate for the year of 64%, with 80 of 125 actions completed in 2024. Significant milestones achieved in the period include: nearly €3.8 million in grant funding for 15 projects in Ireland's midlands as part of the EU's just transition fund; the launch of 65 Connecting Ireland transport routes; the approval of the terms and conditions of Ireland's second offshore wind auction; the installation of solar panels in more than 1,000 schools; the establishment of a national certification-accreditation system for eco-driving courses in the haulage sector; the publication of an electricity demand-side strategy; and the incentivisation of large energy users to participate in flexible demand initiatives.

Actions that were not completed during 2024 have been carried forward to be reported upon, together with the new actions agreed as part of Climate Action Plan 2025.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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There is a real concern that we will be simply unable to meet our targets. Figures from the CSO, published last week, show 22% of Ireland's electricity in 2024 was consumed by data centres and that demand had increased by 10% in one year. We recently saw the Secretary General of the Department of the environment raising concerns about the potential conflict between expanding data centres and meeting housing needs, particularly due to climate targets and energy demands. It seems that Ireland must now import significant amounts of electricity to power these data centres. The demand from data centres is driving increased natural gas usage in Ireland and soaking up any additional renewable energy as it comes online.

How do we square the circle? Everyone accepts that we must ensure the retention of jobs and that we have become a digital leader, but how can we sustain this level of growth? Is it credible for Ireland to keep allowing so many data centres to locate here? We, and others, have called for moratoriums until we can see how to square the circle.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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I thank the Deputy.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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There are some indications that, for example, data centres themselves can drive change and ensure they become net zero but we need the Government to take the lead on this.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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I thank the Deputy. I call Deputy Coppinger.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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We are not seeing that happen currently.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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Is this a government of climate deniers? Has the Government just given up any pretence of trying to deal with the climate crisis? We are due to reach a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 23% rather than 51%. We are not going to reach one third of the targets for agriculture. We have the worst emissions in Europe. We are now the dirty country of Europe.

Half of Dublin's electricity is going on data centres. One of the Ministers of State, Deputy Michael Healy-Rae, proposed to put forests on peatland – something that has been called environmental vandalism by an academic. The dairy herd has increased in the past ten years by 53%. All of the things that are necessary to address climate change are not being done. It seems that it is just a case of let rip. The super rich globally have allowed investment by banks in fossil fuels to increase. Some of the Taoiseach's own Deputies are profiting from AI, but he cannot continue to worship AI and data centres at the expense of the environment.

Malcolm Byrne (Wicklow-Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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Up to 25% of Ireland's coastline is facing the serious problem of coastal erosion and the proportion in counties Wicklow and Wexford is higher. The Taoiseach will be aware that I represent an area that stretches from Brittas Bay to Morriscastle. We have some of the finest beaches in the country, but many of them, most notably Courtown and Kilmichael, are in serious danger.

We need to look at addressing this from a climate point of view and at beach replenishment. There is the threat to adjoining lands and infrastructure, nesting areas and coastal biodiversity. We can learn from other countries such as the Netherlands. Of concern to me as well is that the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment's own statistics show that, between 2017 and 2024, the number of homes at risk in our coastal areas grew from 1,445 to 2,279. I ask that this issue be a priority.

Naoise Ó Cearúil (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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The EPA recently identified 115 risks to Ireland from climate change. These range from disruption to Ireland’s energy system, as we saw recently with Storm Éowyn, to damage to Ireland’s built environment from extreme wind and weather events. Will the Taoiseach clarify if the Cabinet committee on climate action will address this report and provide updates on it? Furthermore, we have heard talk of data centres, etc. The private wires Bill needs to be prioritised and be brought before the House as soon as possible.

Shane Moynihan (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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Core to our transition to a green economy will be ensuring that the workforce has the skills necessary to enable it. A recent SOLAS report shows that, of all the jobs in the workforce, 75% require some sort of green or sustainability-based skill and that there are more than 400,000 people in employment in green occupations. Green jobs are an area of growth for the future, especially as Ireland embraces its position as a leader in climate action and developing the renewable energy industries that underpin it. Will the Taoiseach outline to the House the proposals and progress the Government is making on embedding green skilling, not only in the green and renewable sector, but across the economy to ensure we transition to a green workforce and identify that sweet spot for Ireland between the green and digital revolutions?

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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This Thursday, workers in Bord na Móna Recycling, the country’s only remaining publicly owned domestic waste collection service, will go on strike. The company's recycling arm is being sold off to a privately owned company called KWD Recycling. This State sell-off not only jeopardises workers' terms and conditions, but also makes a mockery of the Government's consultation on reform of Ireland’s approach to waste management. If the Government is open to changing the system, why on earth would it sell off the last publicly owned body involved in the sector?

The privatised approach has not worked; it is not fit for purpose. It has hampered efficiency, driven up emissions and exacerbated local traffic congestion, and prices keep going up. I see at first hand how badly served this city is, including my own constituency of Dublin Central, by this approach. Last year, Dublin City Council spent €71 million on street cleaning, involving collecting 3,000 tonnes of illegally dumped bags, providing recycling facilities, landfill recovery and waste enforcement. The system is broken and needs to be fixed. Bord na Móna drove economic development in the midlands. It was supposed to be central to the just transition to a green economy. Rather than protect the State’s involvement in this, why has Bord na Móna had its assets stripped? When will we have again a publicly controlled, affordable and sustainable waste management system in Ireland?

Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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I heard a Member of this House say that this Government is anti-climate change measures. I ask her to look at the programme for Government. I am a recently qualified mechanical engineer who helped to contribute to the programme for Government. Another Member spoken about the private wires Bill. Yes, 50% of Dublin's electricity is used by data centres, but what do the Members propose we do? Are they just going to whinge and whine? I propose we bring in the private wire legislation as quickly as possible and make the data centres bring in-----

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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The Deputy is to question the Taoiseach.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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These are Taoiseach’s Questions, not questions to the Deputy.

Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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I am sorry, but I did not interrupt the Deputy. Maybe the data centres develop their own on-site energy and help us reach our climate goals.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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What is wrong with Deputy Heneghan?

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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We all know the enormous work that needs to be done on flood protection and flood mitigation. In my county, there have been many promises regarding the CFRAM. Even in the part of Dundalk that I live in, there is a significant flood risk. Accepting these works are going to be done, there is still an issue with insurance and insurance companies in terms of flood protection and people attaining mortgages. At one stage, Louth County Council and others were willing to provide the information that the area no longer suffered flooding, but that has not happened, so we need mitigation measures for these people.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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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.