Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I also want to ask the Taoiseach about data centres and comment on the astonishing speed and insistence of the Ministers, Deputies Eamon Ryan and Coveney, to protect the data centre sector in light of the statistics showing a substantial increase in the amount of electricity - up 9% in the past five years - that is being used by these centres. As previous speakers indicated, the sector's usage accounts for the equivalent of all urban household use. What I would like to see is an honest open debate and discussion about what data centres are good for. Some might say that they care good for absolutely nothing, but we know that we use Twitter and all sorts of other social media platforms. To criticise somebody for using social media in order to be critical of the Government's policy on this is nonsense. The Government needs to be much more honest with the population. It also needs to facilitate a real discussion in this House about what data centres do for society. If they are going to gobble up 30% of the power on offer from the national grid by 2030, that raises a serious question.

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