Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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2. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he is concerned that housing delivery is at risk because of an inability of new houses to be connected to the electricity grid; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24653/25]

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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Is big tech's insatiable demand for energy to power data centres being put before the need to address the housing crisis? The recent CRU report suggests housing delivery is at risk because of the inability to connect new houses to the electricity grid as a result of the insatiable demand of data centres.

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Murphy for raising this important question on whether housing delivery is at risk because of challenges regarding the electricity grid. I am committed to building more homes in Ireland and to ensuring the housing needs of our society and economy are met. The Government’s revised housing targets, aiming for over 300,000 new homes by 2030, set a pathway to deliver on this objective.

While scaling up capacity to deliver 300,000 new homes by 2030 will be an enormous challenge, this can be facilitated, inter alia, through appropriate Government support to increase the critical infrastructural capacity needed to enable housing delivery in the coming years. The Government is investing record levels of capital funding in critical infrastructure and will continue to do so under the national development plan for the period 2025 to 2035, to be finalised by July of this year.

Developers are guaranteed a connection by ESB Networks. It is worth noting that, over the past four years, ESB Networks has connected over 147,000 homes and businesses to the distribution network. For future connections, ESB Networks is advising developers to give as much notice of their requirements as possible.

In response to increased demand, the operators have prepared business plans that propose significantly increased investment in the electricity grid for the period 2026 to 2030 for consideration by the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities under its sixth price review. I look forward to the conclusion of the review, which will provide a clear framework for investment in the electricity grid for the next five-year period.

In addition, the new housing activation office in my Department will engage with and align key stakeholders, including those responsible for the electricity grid, to ensure barriers to housing development are addressed in a co-ordinated way.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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Let me quote from the recent CRU paper on policy on the connection of data centres:

ESB Networks has highlighted risks that, in the absence of an adequate policy response, the potential level of data centre demand could significantly impact its ability to accommodate demand connections required to support Government policy targets such as 550,000 new homes by 2040 ...

It goes on to give the example that, in west Dublin, the new Castlebaggot station was initially designed to support housing growth, relieve pressure and support industrial growth, as well as future demand. It then states:

However, due to the first come first served connection approach this new capacity at Castlebaggot was almost entirely used by data centres applications, leaving limited capability to support other demand needs in the area.

Therefore, more electricity capacity, or another power station, was added to the grid to assist with housing but it was gobbled up by data centres. What the CRU states is that "it does not have sufficient statutory powers to prioritise certain government policy objectives over others under current legislation". It is asking the Minister to act to state housing should take priority over big tech. Is he going to?

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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We are all aware that the high population growth and strong economic growth led to increased demand in terms of housing and also for our economy. Particularly with regard to delivering housing and the supporting infrastructure, there has been a growth in energy demand and the energy intensity required for modern manufacturing and large-scale servers. Delivering electricity infrastructure is absolutely key for this Government to ensure houses are delivered and also for our wider economy.

In response to increased demand, ESB Networks and EirGrid have prepared business plans that propose significantly increased investment in the electricity grid for the period 2026 to 2030. Under the accelerating renewable electricity task force, the Department established in 2024 the future grid working group. This working group is tasked with accelerating the delivery of our electricity grid. This year will see the Irish regulator approve the investment in the Irish electricity grid for the period 2026 to 2030.

The Deputy has raised concerns. They exist and we all acknowledge that there are challenges, but the Department, regulator and Government will be responding to them in the coming years.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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What is the response of the Department and Government? Is it to put a pause, at least, on data centres? Is the Government’s response to state, at least, that housing takes priority? The CRU is saying to the Minister very clearly that we are adding electricity capacity and that, because of the first-come, first-served nature of the system, it is being gobbled up by data centres. Let us get real about where the extra demand for electricity is coming from. It is predominantly from the big tech giants.

They are at over 20% of our electricity usage now and by 2030 they will be very close to 30%. This Government signals an even brighter green light to the data centres to keep coming. It says it wants more in terms of AI and so on. However, they are saying to the Government that unless it indicates that housing takes priority, those data centres will gobble up the electricity and will be an obstacle to delivering the housing we need to address the housing crisis. Will the Minister therefore, at the very least, say that housing takes priority over these data centres in terms of electricity?

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I again thank the Deputy for his question. Housing is the number one priority for this Government, and that runs across all the different Departments. We have our Cabinet subcommittees where we work with the various Departments. In response to the increased demand as a result of a significant increase in population and economic demand being put on our grid, we have a plan in place, that plan is being worked out and we will deliver the electricity we need to provide the homes we will deliver and to help our economy continue to grow, which in turn gives us the funds, the taxes, that we need to help build those homes.

David Maxwell (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I now call on Deputy Ó Broin. I will take Deputy Gould's question after Question No. 4.