Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for the presentation. I will raise the issue of data centres. Our position is that the Government has not been strategic enough in how they have been managed to date or will be in future. The impact of that is we have not conditioned data centres enough to play a role that is in any way sustainable in our economy or society. There has been an open door for them regardless of the kind of data centres they are and the impact they can have. Being strategic in this policy is very important.

We know some facts about data centres. In 2015, they accounted for 5% of our electricity use. That is now nearly 20%, which is pretty much the same amount of electricity use as all rural homes in the country. That is projected to increase to 30% by 2030. We have seen incredible growth in the electricity use of data centres. We have also seen the impact of that, when it comes to the security issues they have caused on our grid and our ability to meet our climate emissions targets. Data centres have been identified as a key challenge in that regard. We know a number of facts about data centres but there is an awful lot we do not know.

The Government's policy states: "Data centres are core digital infrastructure and play an indispensable role in our economy and society." I question that statement. I am interested in digging a little into how the Government has come up with that analysis. If it is okay, I will go backwards and forwards with questions. One of the things the Government states is that strong employment should be associated with them. Can the Minister tell me how many people are directly employed, that is, are on site, in data centres in Ireland?