-----not only in the development of the offshore wind within view of our shores but also in one of the most important projects EirGrid has, which is effectively the complete redevelopment of the electricity transmission grid in Dublin. That project would likely bring offshore wind energy ashore in Carrickmines, in Poolbeg and on the northside. Not only that, but we will need new transmission cables underground - they will have to be put in - to give the sort of grid we will need, not only to manage the offshore pow…

-----to look at the specific plans. It is important, not only in terms of how we get offshore wind energy ashore but in how we power our economy and our homes.

Basically, that is the first key development.

I apologise for being inadvertently late. To answer Deputy Naughten and others, we have estimated that a €350 million charge from our Department's Vote to EirGrid this year is the likely expenditure. There may be some further cost but we will not know that until all the contractual arrangements are in place. We cannot be specific because contract negotiations are ongoing as we speak. As he is a former Minister, Deputy Naughten will know we do not want to undermine the State's ability to get the best value for money…

In response to Deputy O'Rourke, I expect it will be a single Supplementary Estimate that we will bring to the Dáil, and it will be to Vote 29 of the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications. That capital is then provided to EirGrid to be able to place the orders and, in turn, for it to enter into contracts or to sell on the equipment to developers. The key thing is that it will be in place in October 2023 for the winter of 2023 to 2024. I apologise that I missed the debate yesterday as I was at the…

Priority is being given to renewables and that will make up 80% of our electricity generation capacity by the end of this decade. I am convinced of that. We have to do that to meet our climate targets but there is also the comparative competitive advantage that we have in renewables. We also know it requires backup that is open and flexible, particularly gas plant and combined cycle gas plant, in likelihood, to allow us to balance that. In periods when the wind is not blowing, we need to have backup capability. Thi…

I wish to respond on amendments Nos. 2, 7 and 22 together. Amendment No. 2 proposes the insertion of a paragraph (c) in section 3(1). As regards amendment No. 7, subsection (1) thereof suggests that a moratorium or pause be placed on data centres, while subsections (2), (3) and (4), along with amendment No. 22, relate to the implementation of risk analysis measures and reporting criteria. The management of connections to the electricity grid is a matter for the system operators, namely, EirGrid and ESB Networks, un…

It is true, I am told, but I also hear this when I talk to people in industry, that there is a significant level of connection for the large companies Deputies have mentioned. They provide a great deal of employment, accounting for approximately 50,000 jobs. Much of our tax base is also based on the operations of those companies. That revenue is significant in paying for our social welfare, health, education and other needs. If one talks to representatives of those companies, they will say they see a real connectio…

That is not true.

I will go back to the various points made. In response to Deputy Whitmore, as I said earlier, we are in the middle of contracting and purchasing machines. The public would not welcome if the House were to set a price in the middle of negotiations and, therefore, we do not know what the final cost will be. The assessment from the CRU and others is lower than that quoted by the Deputy. I do not want to be specific or categoric because it will depend on the price of machines acquired. If it were the case that we had a…

That was actually completely separate because the generation did not relate to this Bill at all.

That was last October.

That was almost a year ago, long before this Bill or the contract arrangements in it were considered. I do not think it relates to this activity at all.

It is true we have been working with the CRU and EirGrid for some time now, going back to last September or beyond, recognising that we had a power shortage and had to close the gap. However, as for the cost to which the Deputy refers, the approach of using the purchase of open-cycle aeroderivative generation in the way we propose here was not considered until earlier this year, certainly nowhere near last September. I will come back and check that. If Deputy Whitmore shares the correspondence with me, I will check…

Yes.

I very much appreciate the various contributions I heard during the debate. I will look back at the record to read the earlier contributions. To respond to Senator McDowell, we could easily lapse into despondency and ask why should we do anything because it is too late to address climate change. There is no doubt but that it will be a challenge beyond compare. What we need to do will require incredible change. We need to halve our emissions this decade and achieve net-zero in three decades. It is no small change. I…

Could we not start to pay them for other nature-based services? That is where the market is going. The food industry relies on exports. The big companies, such as the Kerry Group, are committing to science-based targets because they know if they are not following science-based targets, they will not get finance in five or ten years and they will find it very difficult to sell on an Origin Green brand. Kerrygold will not get the premium if we are not truly green in everything we do. The Kerry Group has committed to …

Some 150,000 or 200,000 people work in the digital industry here. They want to see data centres as well as those jobs. We can design our data centres in a way that they are part of the solution. The energy use goes mainly on heat in data centres. By managing that heat, it can be used for district heating, leading to real efficiency.

No. However, we can design it in Athenry where the backup power it has strengthens the grid and its demand-management capability gives us flexibility. Athenry is not too far from Moneypoint on the Shannon Estuary where all that offshore wind energy will come ashore and will be converted to hydrogen. When the wind is blowing the wind energy will run from Moneypoint up to Athenry or elsewhere and when the wind is not blowing, that hydrogen will be used in a zero-carbon power generation system that runs the data centr…

Yes.