I commend my colleague and our climate spokesperson, Deputy Ahern, on proposing this motion, which I am delighted to second on behalf of the Labour Party. In my constituency of Dublin Bay South, we saw the largest mobilisation of young people in the first school strike for climate in 2019. My constituency is also home to a great many people working in the tech sector. However, it is also a constituency where many households are now struggling to make ends meet, in part due to the outrageously high cost of energy. I make these points at the outset to illustrate the strong connection between the climate crisis, the cost-of-living crisis and the future of our economy and our workplaces. The connection here is so clear for the working families I represent. Every month, and the Minister of State will be aware of this, people open electricity bills they can scarcely afford. They watch prices rise, while they see people in other countries like Spain, which have invested heavily in renewables, availing of cheaper, cleaner energy. Ireland still has some of the highest electricity prices in Europe. More than 500,000 people are in arrears on their energy bills. Energy security is a buzz word for Government when it comes to justifying liquefied natural gas but less so when it comes to being honest with people about data centres. As Deputy Ahern pointed out, data centres are now consuming more electricity than all urban households combined and that demand is set to grow. It seems the demands of multinational tech corporations have an outsized influence on national energy policy for this Government. I say none of this to diminish the importance of tech jobs. I know it well as local TD. However, there is a balance to be struck with the needs of working families and, indeed, other sectors and other businesses matter too. At present, what renewables we do bring on stream, the capacity is immediately being swallowed by the growing demand from data centres instead of reducing bills for households or improving our energy security. That is why in this motion, the Labour Party is calling for a levy on energy used by data centres and a moratorium on the introduction of new data centres until bills come down. We need to see offshore wind generation operating and capable of supporting that growth. We need that renewables revolution that we have seen driven by a socialist Government in Spain and that we have seen in other countries. We need to see a Government that is using evidence to drive energy policy, not just acquiescing to the calls of tech giants and fossil fuel lobbyists. Before I finish, I want to emphasise that for Labour and for all of us, the debate should also be about jobs because the same artificial intelligence, AI, revolution driving demand for data centres is reshaping our labour market. Companies are selling AI and marketing its use as a way to flatten teams, which is a euphemism for cutting jobs. Young graduates are seeing diminished job prospects as early-stage AI lay-offs really cut deep. Generative AI is also having serious ethical implications due to the risk of mass theft of intellectual property. The Government is sleepwalking through an AI revolution. As a tech hub, we have an opportunity to lead on a just green transition for quality jobs, a renewables revolution and finally being able to meet our climate targets.

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