Malcolm Byrne (Wicklow-Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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109. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his views on whether it is critical that Ireland generates sufficient energy to meet both housing needs and the requirements of a digital economy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30257/25]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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138. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government to outline the framework his Department uses to balance between competing energy needs of different sectors of the economy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30074/25]

Malcolm Byrne (Wicklow-Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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Are the Minister and his Department sufficiently ambitious to ensure that Ireland will generate sufficient energy to meet housing needs and the requirements of the digital economy?

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 109 and 138 together.

Ireland's energy policy is focused on achieving a sustainable, secure and competitive energy system with key elements centred around reducing greenhouse gas emissions, increasing renewable energy generation - 40% of our energy was generated through renewables last year - as well as improving energy efficiency and ensuring energy security. Members will see from previous questions how difficult this can be in certain areas with the politicising of projects that will hinder our delivery of much-needed grid infrastructure.

The new programme for Government outlines the Government's position regarding energy, housing, FDI policy and many other goals and reflects the balance between the various needs, opportunities and challenges facing the country. It also states our ambition to achieve energy independence by harnessing our untapped renewable energy resources and recognises that increased and unprecedented investment and delivery in our grid and expanding our energy generation capacity are priorities. Three main priorities in the NDP review are energy, housing and water. Price review 6 later this year will see a multiple of price review 5 and the investment in our grid because we need to expand our grid capacity for generation and distribution to meet the needs we have.

Transitioning to a renewables-led system remains a key priority to ensure Ireland’s energy security and economic competitiveness. Energy security underpins the delivery of essential infrastructure, including new housing developments and digital services. Digital services are critically important for the future economic development of this country. It is not a question of one or the other.

The CRU will bring forward the large energy users document that went out to public consultation, particularly with regard to PR6. When it does, we will see a plan-led approach not only to grid development, but also to energy delivery for all of our business sectors, the digital sector and housing. It will take into account the need for 50,000 homes per year over the period of PR6 as well as the additional energy required to meet the targets of nearly 1 million EV charging points.

The system operators, EirGrid and ESB Networks, assess the expected future demand on the system, for example, economic and population growth, housing, EVs and heat pumps, as part of the network development plans. These plans form a vital part in the system operator's submission to the next price review. This sets out the level of investment required for the next five years, which will probably be in the region of €13.4 billion to €15 billion. If we compare that to previous investment of approximately €5 billion, it is unprecedented but it is needed.

The CRU is currently reviewing the proposals from ESB Networks and EirGrid for the requirements for investment. Submissions made to the CRU propose a significant uplift in the investment, which will come to pass, in distribution and transmission to support the requirements of a growing population and economy. The exact level will form part of the CRU's final determination. The programme for Government seeks to address the challenges between balancing energy needs by committing to scale up investment in critical infrastructure and our electricity grid. It will be advantageous for customers and enhance the data centre and digital economy footprint to support continued FDI investment.

Malcolm Byrne (Wicklow-Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I am glad the Minister has clarified how the ambition of the Government is to meet those future needs. The future is both green and digital. It is wrong that the debate has been presented by some as a choice between one and the other. The critical issue is that we have a sufficient supply, particularly of clean energy, to meet our future needs.

On the new economy, data centres often get a very bad reputation. I want to highlight the recent €3.5 billion investment by Echelon in Arklow. This was the first grid connection for data centres approved in more than four years. Despite Sinn Féin opposition, the local Sinn Féin TD made sure to show up for the announcement of that investment and the future jobs that would be available there.

I get annoyed when this is presented as a debate of one or the other. The Minister is right; we must meet the energy requirements in total.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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It is important to outline that Ireland is at the most extreme end of vulnerability because of the growth of data centre demand. We host approximately 120 data centres. Today, they consume 21% of all energy we produce. Forty centres are in planning and development right now. No other country reports a higher share of domestic energy consumption by data centres than Ireland.

We understand the importance of the digitalisation of our economy but this can only be done in a way that serves the environment and people best. This is what was correctly alluded to by the Minister's own Secretary General recently. AI-supporting data centres consume much more energy than the typical data centre. How will the Government strike this balance? Will it prioritise housing over data centres when it comes to connections or will it step up LNG-fuelled electricity production to make up the difference and, as such, annihilate our climate targets?

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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We are not going to annihilate our climate targets. This Government is as committed as the previous Government was to the energy transition, reducing emissions and working as hard as we can to achieve the targets that have been set.

On the expansion of renewable energy, 40% of all our energy last year was generated through renewables. We have made incredible progress in that regard, not just in the previous Government, but since 2005. In 2005, 7% of our electricity was generated by renewables, but that figure is 40% 20 years later. There are real opportunities with offshore renewables. There are now five projects out to further information and planning on the east coast and there has been the Government decision on the national DMAP to accelerate the delivery of offshore renewables.

Investment in our grid is absolutely critical. The level of investment over the term of this Government in our grid, both in distribution and generation, will be unprecedented. It will be multiples of the previous one. We must also ensure as a country that we remain at the cutting edge of new technologies.

Housing is an absolute priority for this Government. In the previous Government, we delivered 135,000 new homes. It was not a question of any sector above housing; housing was the number one priority and remains so. Under the national development plan review, however, the three main priorities are housing, water and energy. That is critical. I do not think anybody could or should disagree with that.

Look at the jobs underpinned by the investment in data and digital infrastructure in this country. Some of the largest employers in this country - in Deputy O'Gorman's own constituency - are located in Ireland because their data is located here, too. There is headroom to 2030 on already committed connection agreements, and that is not instead of housing. Those who present this as an issue of data centres getting connections instead of housing are simply not correct. It might be populous to say that but it is not correct.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The Minister's own Secretary General presented it that way.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Deputy O'Gorman will have his chance to speak in a minute.

Malcolm Byrne (Wicklow-Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome what the Minister is saying. The Secretary General might wish to reflect on some of her words because the Minister's Department is responsible for ensuring we have a sufficient level of energy. My frustration, as I know is the Minister's, is about the delays, particularly when it comes to offshore renewables. We are talking about 5 GW of offshore wind energy being generated by 2030. Our target then will be to get up to 20 GW by 2040. We need to start thinking at that level. I do not like it being presented as we only have this much energy, so we have to make a choice. We have got to be ambitious, even if it requires the Minister banging heads together every Monday morning, to ensure that we meet the renewable energy targets to fund the housing we need but also the digital economy. I welcome the Minister's ambition in that regard. The future is both green and digital.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The Taoiseach and the Minister for public expenditure, Deputy Chambers, rejected the warnings raised by the Minister, Deputy O'Brien's Secretary General that Ireland would be forced to choose between housing and AI data centres. I believe they and the Minister are far too quick to dismiss concerns by the most senior civil servant in the latter's Department.

There has been positive growth in energy generated by renewables in recent years but we are also seeing this being eaten up by the increased demand of data centres. We need to be honest, in that there are some choices ahead of us. The Government needs to set out how those choices will be balanced. Currently, 21% of all energy produced in this country is consumed by data centres. Our digital economy is well supported and any additional growth cannot be at the expense of the nine housing connections, nor can it be done by increased fossil fuel dependency.

The Minister mentioned the plan earlier. When will that plan be ready and can he commit that it will entail no increased use of electricity generated from gas?

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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There is no dispute within my Department and the Secretary General is a very committed public servant who I work with extremely well. We are all in agreement that we need to expand our energy generation through renewables, which we are doing, and improve our grid resilience and the capacity of our grid across the country. This is what we will be doing to ensure that we can meet not competing demands, but demands across all sectors. Housing for our people is fundamental. It is never in question.

Deputy O'Gorman stated that our digital economy was now well supported by that 21% of energy it was using. I am assuming by him saying this that he supports this happening or would he reverse that? Our job is to ensure we expand renewables in particular. While respecting the planning decisions recently made by An Bord Pleanála, some of those projects are now out to further information, which will delay their commencement, but those ORESS 1 developers are still committed to developing those offshore renewables.

We learned a lot from that. We also have the south coast DMAP which went through without a judicial review. The accelerated national DMAP which will be completed by 2027.

Let us not forget about onshore. There is significant interest in the next auction this year. There will be significant participation in onshore wind and onshore solar. Look at what we have been able to do on solar - in 2018, 0.6% of energy was generated through solar in this country. Now, on a good day it is about 14%. The average in the last full year was just over 3%. It is growing and growing. That is clean, green energy, it is our energy, it is sustainable, and it is reducing our dependence on fossil fuels and on others for supplies of our energy. The Greenlink interconnector from Wexford to Britain is now electrified. There will be completion shortly of the Celtic interconnector. All that energy infrastructure has been put in place. There is no question of us increasing our dependence on fossil fuels. We are moving on and will continue to do that.