Dáil debates

Thursday, 7 April 2022

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions

Departmental Reviews

9:20 am

Photo of Catherine ConnollyCatherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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5. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment further to Parliamentary Question No. 90 of 10 February 2022, the status of the work to revise the Government Statement on the Role of Data Centres in Ireland’s Enterprise Strategy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18723/22]

Photo of Catherine ConnollyCatherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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My question is specific and straight. I am asking for an update on the status of the work to review the Government statement on the role of data centres in Ireland's Enterprise Strategy.

Photo of Damien EnglishDamien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Connolly for raising this issue. As I am aware that she raised it in the autumn as well, it is timely to provide the Deputy with an update. The Climate Action Plan 2021 requires my Department to review the Government statement on the role of data centres in enterprise policy, ensuring alignment with revised renewable electricity targets and sectoral emissions ceilings. The revised statement will set out the existing policy context and reflect the important economic and societal role of data services that became ever more apparent since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and remote working. Data centres securely store and manage the data which keep much of our information-based economy and society moving. These investments underpin the digital economy in which data are the key asset. However, the revised statement will also seek to ensure that demand for data centre development can be managed prudently and assist in the decarbonisation of our electricity system and deliver regional economic opportunities. It will take account of recent public consultations from EirGrid, including Shaping Our Electricity Future, and the consultation paper by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities on a proposed direction to the system operators related to data centre grid connections, which demonstrate an appropriate, timely and planned approach to managing these challenges on the part of the organisations tasked with delivering and managing our electricity grid.

As to the status of work to revise the statement, a working group of key stakeholders has been established and held its first meeting recently in mid-March. As well as my own Department, the organisations represented were the Departments of the Environment, Climate and Communications, the Taoiseach and Public Expenditure and Reform, EirGrid, ESB Networks, the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland. Further meetings of the working group will take place over the coming months to develop the revised statement for its consideration by Government and finalisation and publication. That is on track to be completed in quarter 2 of this year.

Photo of Catherine ConnollyCatherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I tabled a series a of questions and generally the Tánaiste has answered me. There was hope, a deadline and a recognition that we need a strategy. That seems to be gone with this reply. It seems to be gone to never-never land. I do not have time here to go through the latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that was mentioned yesterday in the Dáil. It is the final turning point. We are talking about a Government policy statement that did not consider climate and the effect of data centres on the environment whatsoever. We got a thumbs up from Grant Thornton in the analysis, which I have read in detail, which did not look at the cost to the climate and the environment as a result of the proliferation of data centres. There were more than 70 of them at the last count. According to the EirGrid consultation paper of March 2021, the current developer-led approach, where energy assets and large energy users can locate wherever they want, would not allow Ireland to reach its 2030 renewable targets.

Photo of Damien EnglishDamien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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I am sorry the Deputy thinks that the Government is putting it on the never-never. To be clear, the Tánaiste responded to the Deputy in the autumn and told her that the report would be published and an updated statement provided by quarter 1 of 2022. It has slipped into quarter 2. We accept that there has been a delay with it. However, in our view, that means that the work is being done right. An updated statement will be published in quarter 2. The reason that it is being updated is because the previous statement was published in 2018, predating the Climate Action Plan 2021. That is why we are updating it. We are updating it to recognise all the issues that the Deputy has highlighted and to ensure that we are aligning enterprise policy with our climate targets.

Also, when it comes to the discussion of data centres, we need to have a detailed conversation on their role in society and the benefits they bring. The role of data centres in the economy should be assessed in the context of the total economic value they provide, and not just as an isolated economic activity. The important economic and societal role of data centres in the provision of video calls, streaming services and other remote working technology has become ever more apparent since Covid-19. Data centres securely store and manage the data in a very effective way and in most cases, in a very energy-efficient way. They keep most of our information-based economy and society moving. These investments underpin the digital economy in which data are the key asset. To be clear, data centres are an increasingly important part of the digital and communication sectors and our core infrastructure in the remote working and digital service economy. The transition to a digital economy is well under way. It is impacting all sectors of the economy. Ireland is well positioned as a digital gateway to Europe. Data centres and the service they provide act as a hook for further investment and job creation. To be clear, each data centre generally directly employs between 30 and 50 highly-qualified workers. Also, the overall impact that they have is the provision of 20,000 direct jobs in the economy supporting the companies that are here and involved in the infrastructure.

Photo of Catherine ConnollyCatherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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The Government is not proactively reviewing this policy. It is reviewing it now because of outrage over the lack of analysis in relation to the damage done by data centres. I fully accept that we need data centres and that they are part of the modern economy. What I do not accept is the thumbs up that was given in 2018, three years after we passed a climate action plan and one year before we declared a climate and biodiversity emergency. My difficulty is with the type of analysis that was done by Grant Thornton at the time. I do not blame Grant Thornton. It did what it was asked, but the analysis took no cognisance of what was happening in relation to the emergency. That is my difficulty. No cognisance has been taken of what has been said by EirGrid in relation to the developer-led approach of data centres, and no cognisance has been taken of the fact that this week, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has told us that we have no choice but to take action. That is my difficulty. When exactly will we have the new strategy?

9:30 am

Photo of Damien EnglishDamien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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Maybe I have to say it for the third time. It is quarter 2 that is the target.

Photo of Catherine ConnollyCatherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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We are in quarter 2.

Photo of Damien EnglishDamien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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I think the Deputy is being a bit unfair here. She keeps referring back to a statement from 2018. We have already committed, and it is an action in the climate action plan, to review that policy and to update it. That work has begun. It will involve all of the conversations the Deputy has just touched on and all of the reasons to recognise where we are in respect of the climate change and climate adaptation measures, but also to recognise the importance of data centres in this country and how we can balance the two. That is what the report will do. The updated statement is due in quarter 2. I think we are on the same page here. Referencing what happened before 2018 is not where this report is at. This report is updating that policy so we should be able to achieve what the Deputy wants to achieve.

I am glad the Deputy recognises the importance of data centres. We have to recognise that the providers of data centres have ambitions in regard to green energy well beyond the Government's. They intend to be at 100% by 2025 and we want to work with them on that. It is a major sector in this country but it is also a major sector for our construction partners who are involved in this business all over the world and are having a major impact for Ireland. It is an area of high expertise for us, it is one that we excel in and we want to continue to do that, but in a climate-friendly way.