I cannot find the detail now but the CRU has stated that the 400 MW will result in a €40 domestic charge. I will find that specific reference and relay it to the Minister. The Minister stated it is true that large companies will wish to have their data centres close to where they have a density of staff located. It is also true that data centres see us as a soft touch and have done so for years. This Government has rolled out the red carpet. Essentially, it has told the companies to come in and they will get their …

Why?

It is costing families. The €40 charge is for the 450 MW. This is not the cost that will go on to people's bills because of the €7 or €8 billion that will be required in grid infrastructure so that data centres can access electricity. We are relying on the fact that we will have all this renewable energy, therefore, it does not matter where that energy is used. However, it will be difficult to meet those renewable energy targets. Once wind farms start going up off the coast, the Minister will find that people will …

The best way to reduce our emissions is not to allow them to grow in the first place. There should have been some demand management when it came to this growth. The CRU published its security of supply information note on 29 September last year. It states that "450MW of emergency generation would represent an increase in the Transmission System Operator tariffs and electricity transmission tariffs and could translate into a ca €40 overall increase in an average domestic bill for the forthcoming tariff year".

That is a separate one?

No. That was for 200 MW. This one states that 400 MW in additional temporary emergency generation should be sought to address the remainder of this gap. This was last September. It states that the 200 MW had already been procured, that an additional 450 MW would need to be procured and that the cost of that would be €40.

Will the Minister clarify that? He did say it was around last September that he began negotiations with the CRU on the shortfall. Coincidentally, the shortfall specified in this document is 450 MW, so it seems coincidental that we are discussing a shortfall of 450 MW for this Bill and that the CRU had mentioned a shortfall of 450 MW. If that 450 MW resulted in a €40 increase, one would imagine that any 450 MW would result in same. There will not be a different amount placed on a bill depending on the-----

I ask that the Minister seek clarity on this because it does say here it was to deal with the generation gap for winter 2023-24, which is what we are discussing at the moment. The one question, therefore, is whether the 450 MW and the €40 relates to this Bill. If not, then there was another 450 MW procured that resulted in a €40 that is additional to this. These questions are a direct result of the fact the Bill has been rushed through this House and the Oireachtas committee did not have an opportunity to do any pr…

The Joint Committee on International Surrogacy is due to complete its work over the coming weeks. I have been contacted by a number of concerned families, including some in my constituency, who are worried about recent comments by the Minister for Health in which he stated that it was agreed there would be amendments to the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022 ready to go within 12 weeks. This is obviously concerning as neither that committee nor any committee has been tasked with drawing up amendments. T…

The Minister said he would bring forward amendments. Obviously, the committee cannot draw up amendments.

That was not specified by the Minister.

I thank the Taoiseach.

We have a very long two and a half years ahead if we must continue to face this Punch and Judy show between Fine Gael and Sinn Féin. There is an issue in regard to pre-legislative scrutiny and the processes behind it in respect of this Bill. It is not acceptable that most of us are standing up with questions for the Minister of State rather than being able to debate from a position of information. The committee received the documentation on these proposals five minutes before we were asked to have a briefing on the…

EirGrid has identified an electricity shortfall of up to 700 MW over the coming winters. This equates to approximately 350,000 homes. This increase in electricity demand is primarily due to the increase in data centre demand. As a result, the Government has approved the procurement of 450 MW of energy electricity generation, which will cost the State €350 million. The Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, has also stated that this will mean an increase of €40 on an average domestic bill. That means that indi…

We will be moving from Cork to Wicklow. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Josepha Madigan, for coming to the Chamber to take this Topical Issue. I know it is not her area and she will probably be limited in what she can say. It would have been preferable for the Minister for Transport to be here, but I understand that is sometimes not possible. I want to raise the need for a coastal Local Link service for Wicklow. When I talk about a coastal Local Link service, what I mean is a Local Link service that connects …

I thank the Minister of State. In her response the Minister of State said that all of the settlements defined as such by the CSO are connected. I presume by this she means Greystones, Arklow and the bigger towns. They are connected by a very poor rail service. There are two trains in the morning. This is not sufficient by any stretch of the imagination. Brittas Bay has no public transport available to it. During the summer in particular there is an absolute need. I ask that the Minister and perhaps the NTA visit th…

I would argue that the measures the Government has introduced to date are not working. Indeed, the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, report published today is sending a clear signal to the Government that the measures it has brought in so far are not working. The ESRI has recommended a number of targeted measures which it believes is the way out of this crisis. One is an emergency Christmas-bonus-style double welfare payment and another is an expansion of the fuel allowance to include those in receipt o…

October is too late.

I too am a member of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action. I commend Deputy Leddin on his chairing of that committee and I also commend the other members. It is a very active and committed committee. It has been quite a while since we looked at this report on transport and quite a while since we discussed it. I looked through it last night and remembered all of the discussions we had. It was very inspirational listening to the experts coming in to talk to us about free public transport s…

As the Social Democrats spokesperson for climate action and as a member of the Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action, I am not shocked but I am disappointed to see this motion come before the Dáil advocating the phasing-in rather than the phasing-out of fossil fuels in Ireland. Ireland, like other rich countries, is addicted to oil and it is this addiction we must fix, not providing more of the drug, which the motion suggests. Yes, we do need robust policies to develop our energy supplies and there are …