Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta Éamon Ó Cuív as ucht na díospóireachta seo a thabhairt os ár gcomhair anocht.

I do not disagree with anything the Deputy said but I will give him the formal response. As the Deputy knows, and as he has acknowledged, Ireland wants to continue to be a European and digital global leader.

Ireland is strongly committed to progressing the digital transformation of our economy. Data centres are necessary infrastructure for many of the services that we now take for granted, including technological advances such as cloud computing, quantum and AI, and the rapid growth of the use of Internet services by enterprise and communities. Data centres are a key part of our value proposition for foreign direct investment. I absolutely agree with Deputy Ó Cuív's contention about us not being complacent in this space.

As with all large energy users, future data centre developments will need to be consistent with our climate legislation and targets. The 2022 Government statement on the role of data centres in Ireland’s enterprise strategy signals the Government's clear preference for sustainable data centre development that can demonstration a clear pathway to decarbonise and ultimately provide net zero data services. This statement provides a framework for decisions to be made around energy connections over the next number of years while we have the challenges of balancing supply and demand of energy with meeting our climate targets.

The Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, is undertaking a review of the gas and electricity connection policies for new large energy users and we expect a decision paper in the coming months, which will set guidelines for new grid connections. Officials in my Department are also working with officials in the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications and other relevant stakeholders to clarify the position to industry for data centre connections over the near term, from now to 2030, and the longer term, post 2030. This work will include exploring options such as locating data centres close to offshore wind production. The output of the work being undertaken by the Department will provide the data centre sector with the certainty it requires to make decisions regarding future data centre investment in Ireland and it will support the continued growth of the digital economy, while in parallel the sector transitions to net zero carbon operations.

I can assure Deputy Ó Cuív that my Department is very robust in our submissions around the current data centre operation. We are engaging in very detailed submissions with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities.

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