Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

In terms of what has been provided to the consortium in the West Bank and the funds, if it is agreed by the committee, we will look for an update on the current situation. Is that agreed? Agreed.

No. 745B is from the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan, dated 21 July 2021, providing information requested by the committee on the national strategy for data centres and their impact on the energy demand. We also wrote to the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment in this regard, and that response will come before the committee at the next meeting, at which we will consider the correspondence. The issue arose from our engagement with An Bord Pleanála in the context of planning permission for data centres which are huge users of electricity and water. The Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications referenced the Government statement on the role of data centres in Ireland's enterprise strategy, which was published in 2018 and states that the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, Ireland's independent energy and water regulator, has responsibility for policies regarding the national grid. The commission works with EirGrid and the ESB networks to issue connection offers to the grid.

The Minister stated that planning permission and grid connections are separate requirements, and while planning permission must be in place before grid connection is sought, planning permission does not guarantee grid connection.

A consultation on the future development and operation of the electricity system was launched last March, and focuses on the need to cater for the transition to 70% renewable energy by 2030 as well as increased demand. The total electricity requirement for large energy users, including data centres, is set to more than double by 2030. The Minister stated that a number of actions have been taken to ensure continuity of supply, given data centres' implications for the national grid over the coming years. In a paper published in June, the Commission for Regulation of Utilities acknowledged that some form of intervention is necessary and a consultation process has now closed. I propose we note and publish this correspondence and request an update on the consultation process. Is that agreed? Agreed. Deputies Murphy and Munster flagged this item for discussion.