I have to ask if the Government believes in climate science. It is hard to see how it can believe in climate science and then take some of the decisions that it is taking. We had confirmation yesterday that the extraordinary growth of data centres is continuing. Their consumption of electricity increased by more than 30% last year. Data centres now use up as much electricity as every single household in urban areas and nearly twice as much as all rural homes. The amount of electricity demand from data centres was almost entirely matched by the growth in electricity from wind generation in 2022. In other words, we are running to stand still in decarbonising our energy system.

The Government does not seem to have any concerns about this.

Yesterday, the Minister for the Environment, Climate, Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan, criticised the Opposition for blaming data centres and vowed to work with them. I cannot believe I need to explain this to the leader of the Green Party, but it seems necessary to do so. We do not blame data centres for being data centres. We blame the Government for not introducing a moratorium on data centres when the Social Democrats first called for one two years ago, and for failing to impose conditions on their operations.

It is not just data centres that are endangering our climate targets. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the Government's entire climate action plan is in crisis. In the best case scenario, if every part of the plan is fully implemented, our emissions will decrease by only 29%, not the necessary 51%. How will the Government bridge this enormous gap? We have no idea. Does the Taoiseach? Instead of talking about this, he has been much more eager to talk about the EU nature restoration law but, sadly, not in a useful or constructive way, just scaremongering. He said the law would make it more difficult to build wind farms. WindEurope has described his remarks as fundamentally wrong. He said the law goes too far and would endanger our food security. The opposite is true. Not that we needed any more evidence, more than 60 major companies and industry groups have rejected that, saying our food security depends on protecting and restoring our critically endangered biodiversity.

To be fair, I should say the Taoiseach is not alone in cynically undermining the law. Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin MEPs are doing the same. People are genuinely worried about politicians talking out of both sides of their mouths on this issue. It is too important. They want climate action, not a combination of greenwashing and scaremongering. It is not an exaggeration to say our lives and our livelihoods depend on it.

Will the Government impose a moratorium on data centres until it has carried out a strategic review? Will the Taoiseach tell us how it is intended to bridge the gap in the climate action plan? Will Fine Gael MEPs support the EU nature restoration law?

I thank the Deputy. A lot of politicians talk out of both sides of their mouths, and the champions among them are those who come in here and express concern about the housing crisis and then go back to their constituencies and oppose housing. We will come back to that-----

Answer the question.

-----on another occasion, and I will now answer the question. Climate change is real. It is happening. It is a clear and present danger. It is man made, and we need to act to reverse it. We have to be the generation that turns the tide when it comes to climate change.

In respect of data centres, over 100,000 people in Ireland work for technology firms. They might not work in data centres, but their jobs would not exist without the existence of data centres. As a result, data centres are important to our economy and for jobs and job creation. While there may not be a moratorium on new data centres, it might be useful for me to advise the Deputy that EirGrid has not approved a new connection since July 2020. It has been nearly three years since a new data centre was given a grid connection. Based on the Government’s policy statement in that regard, applications for new data centres are assessed on a case-by-case basis, taking into account their impact on things such as job creation.

On emissions, far from standing still, our electricity-related carbon emissions went down last year, not up, going in the right direction but by no means fast enough. The solution, when it comes to data centres, is to make sure, first, that they are powered through renewable energy, which is what we are doing, with solar and wind, onshore and offshore, and second, to make sure they have their own back-up generation in order that, in the event we run into an issue with security of supply, far from being a problem, they can be part of the solution by means of generating electricity and selling it into the grid. That is our approach to data centres.

The EU nature restoration law is only a proposal at the moment. Different proposals are being negotiated. I am absolutely convinced that we can agree an EU restoration law that will help us when it comes to reversing biodiversity loss, but I believe it should be realistic. Targets that are set should be realistic, and we should implement an EU restoration law in a way that does not impose obligations on Irish farmers. It is my very strong view that any rewetting of privately owned farmland should be both voluntary and properly remunerated and compensated by the Government and the European Union. Will the Deputy sign up to that?

The Taoiseach commented about there being no new planning applications for data centres. We know there are a few still in the planning stages and a number of others that are still in the construction stages. They are on course to consume at least 30% of our grid capacity by 2030. To give some context on that, the average in other countries is just 2%. It is clear that the Taoiseach recognises the value of growing the economy and also the value of not growing it in that way. We all recognise some of the benefits of data centres. However, what is clear and what is of major concern to me and many other people is that the Government does not seem to recognise the cost of not taking climate action and the impact that will have on the economy. The impact of it is unimaginable. It is the Taoiseach's responsibility to imagine it and act accordingly. Not doing that is unforgivable.

On the nature restoration law, it has already been stated, even by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, that there are enough State-owned lands, that Bord na Móna and Coillte lands will be used to rewet the bogs and that farmers will only be asked to rewet land on a voluntary basis. There the Taoiseach goes again with the scaremongering. Given all of this information, will he reassure people that the Fine Gael MEPs will support this very important law? If not, will he tell us what the plan is in the face of mass biodiversity crisis and rising emissions?

More people want to leave.

I am not going to engage in scaremongering; I am just going to give the basic facts. There are different proposals being negotiated at the moment in respect of the EU nature restoration law. There is a proposal before the European Parliament which is very radical. There is a proposal at the European Council on which the Government is currently negotiating. There is also a proposal made by the European Commission. At a certain point, we get to trilogue and we try to reach an agreement between those three different bodies. The position of the Government is very clear. We support an EU nature restoration law. We think it is a good idea. It is about a lot more than rewetting. It is also about urban areas and increased biodiversity in urban and suburban areas. However, we are also very clear on this that we do not support imposing on Irish farmers rewetting obligations that are compulsory.

Hear, hear.

Anything that is done has to be properly remunerated. I would like to see people from rural constituencies like Cork South-West and Wicklow, for example, backing the Government in that regard. I do not see how farmers in Cork South-West, Wicklow or other rural constituencies could possibly believe that the Social Democrats have their backs.

What the Taoiseach is doing is gaslighting.