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Data centres are a very important part of Ireland's economic and digital present and future, and a key part of our value proposition for foreign direct investment. Data centres bring wider economic benefits, as most understand. They bring tax revenues, employment, broader digital infrastructure value and significant support and linkages provided to other high-value sectors of the economy. The recent KPMG study on data centres, undertaken on behalf of the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, reports the…

I welcome the fact that Deputy Daly recognises the importance of ICT, digital infrastructure and data centres. This is something on which most will agree. The most critical parts of this are the large energy user action plan and the CRU decision on large energy users, both of which are from last year. Both clearly set out what is required for a new data centre or a large energy user connection. This means for a new data centre to get an energy connection it is required to get 80% of its energy through new renewable…

I assure Deputy Daly they do not dictate the system. Connection policy is a matter for CRU, which is independent of me, which the Deputy knows. Grid investment is critical and we are doing that. Grid resilience is absolutely critical and this is why it is imperative that projects such as the North-South interconnector start and are completed as quickly as possible. I have already outlined what we are doing with regard to large energy users and we have published our plans in this regard. We also need to increase gri…

In March 2025, I received Government approval to develop a State-led strategic gas reserve. The delivery of a strategic gas reserve is critical to Ireland's energy security as we transition to indigenous, clean, renewable energy. Crucially, the strategic gas emergency reserve will also ensure compliance with EU standards and regulations and is consistent with our climate action plan. The State-led, transitional nature of the reserve ensures that the risk of stranded fossil fuel assets is mitigated, that the reserve…

I have been very clear that we need this reserve on a temporary basis. We have an oil reserve but we have no gas reserve. It is a significant risk to our energy security in this country. I have a lot of time for the former Minister, Eamon Ryan. I worked very well with him. On this item I do not agree with him and I say that in a very respectful way. It is a risk that needs to be mitigated and that cannot be ignored. That is why, very early in this Dáil term, I set aside that policy decision with agreement from the …

The reality is that we are building more interconnections. We are building the Celtic interconnector now. I signed a further memorandum of understanding, MOU, with Spain in relation to exploring opportunities to have another electricity interconnector to continental Europe. In the meantime, we are accelerating the deployment of renewables. I agree with the former Minister, Eamon Ryan, and that is what we are doing. In relation to storage, in our grid alone, we have over 1 GW of long-duration battery storage. This i…

The Deputy is going to tell me what I am going to say now. The household energy price index, HEPI, report, which is referenced in the Deputy's written question, although he did not mention it in his remarks, tracks energy prices across European capital cities. When adjusted for purchasing power standard, PPS, this report shows that Dublin was the ninth highest for electricity prices in May 2026 and the 14th highest for gas prices. The report notes that purchasing power standards are an approach that eliminates gene…

I am going to mention the work being done by the national energy affordability task force. I will report on that in July. That will give options for further changes and will feed into budgetary deliberations. I am not writing anything off regarding the budget. I will wait to receive that report. In the meantime, however, we have to ensure we accelerate the retrofitting programme I spoke about. If we look at solar, for argument’s sake, over 112,000 homes in this country now have solar systems. This reduces their bil…

Who was that?

I have specifically asked the CRU to look at that pass-on of wholesale price reductions to retail, and that gap. I have written to the commission specifically on that matter to say it is something I want looked at. I am writing nothing off. I am not suggesting for a moment that the measures in the last budget were going to soften the blow of all price increases. They did not but they helped. We are going to seek to help again where we can. We need to consider structural reform. I assure the Deputy, with regard to o…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 5 and 6 together. We are committed to delivering on Ireland's responsibility to address the climate crisis, and work remains ongoing right across government, not just in my Department, to implement climate mitigation measures every single day of the week. My priority is driving implementation, particularly on high-impact measures with multiple societal and economic benefits. Last month, the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, launched its latest greenhouse gas emissions projection…

I would not dismiss what the EPA says and I have not done so. I welcome the work it does. We are taking measures that have been agreed at Cabinet and among Government members and TDs, such as Deputy Boland, who support the Government. We have changed the retrofitting grants, which has made a massive difference not only from a climate perspective in reducing energy use but also in terms of cost and affordability. Since the changes I brought forward in the first quarter of this year, there has been a doubling. There …

I thank both Deputies. I will try to deal with both of their interventions. Deputy Boland can be assured that everything we do is to try to accelerate the actions we are taking in relation to climate. It is the number one crisis worldwide. Ireland, as a country, has shown that it is able to pivot and change quite quickly. I used the example earlier that we have doubled wind capacity in under ten years. In 2015, there was 2 MW of solar energy in our system. By the end of this year, there will be 3 GW. What does that…

Hear, hear.

I thank Deputy Smith for raising this important matter. The Bill to which he refers, the Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2025, is being progressed by my Department as part of a wider programme of work to strengthen the resilience of Ireland's electricity network in the context of climate change and increasingly severe storms. Lessons have and must continue to be learned from Storm Éowyn. We have seen significant work done in relation to the clearing of forestry corridors and debris. That work is under…

I agree with the Deputy. This is a priority. It needs to move quicker but there are a lot of stakeholders. To be frank about it, this is being made more complex than it should be because we are respecting the views of other stakeholders. We need to ensure the regulatory changes needed for new forestry are in place because the State is not going to be able to, nor should it, manage every private forest or private piece of land in the country. The State should not pay for it all either. The agreement with the Irish F…

Absolutely.

The work of our emergency services is exceptional. We saw the difficulties they had to operate under following recent storms, including Storm Chandra and Storm Éowyn. This work needs to be concluded. There is complexity in it. I hate even using the word because it seems like it is an excuse, but there is genuine complexity here. It involves updating legislation but also updating the operation and management of forestry. I agree with the Deputy completely that forestry owners have an absolute responsibility. That is…