Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I do not see electricity demand doubling in the next few years. We cannot afford for that to happen either on a security of supply basis or on an emissions reduction basis. That is not going to be tolerated.

We have a large number of data centres on our system. They account for a large percentage of demand. They bring enormous benefits to the economy, which we should not ignore. Additional data centres will come online because they were agreed prior to the formation of this Government. We saw that we cannot provide an open door because if we did, we would not be able to provide the power needed. Some data centres were contracted prior to that direction from me to the likes of Gas Networks Ireland, GNI. The Government does not reverse or break contracts so such contracts are likely to be filled. However, any future data centres and new connections are going to have to live within our climate budget. They are going to have to be flexible in terms of where they are located to support, rather than put pressure on, the grid. They will need to have demand flexibility and renewable power at the core of their systems. They need to have real flexibility to allow us to use waste heat from them to help with our efficiency. We are not saying "No" to new data centres but they cannot be agreed on a basis that breaches and breaks our climate budget. We are working with the CRU, the industry and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment to make that a viable future.

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