Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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111. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if his Department's policy correctly reflects the balance between energy demand for housing versus energy demand for data centres; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30075/25]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Many jurisdictions over the past decade have been dealing with the dramatic rise in energy consumption driven by the growth in data centres. We are no different here. Our challenge is probably even greater. I believe, and it is witnessed by what has been said by the Minister, the Taoiseach and others, that there is a clear preference for increased data centres and their use. Will the Minister outline how that will be balanced with other elements of the economy?

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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There is no clear preference for data centres over anything else. That is just not correct. Our priorities are for the delivery of housing and additional water infrastructure, investing in our energy grid and supporting indigenous jobs and investment and FDI. This is a red herring, trying to bring forward the narrative that we are not connecting houses to the grid because we are connecting large energy users instead. That is not true; that is not the case. We have already contracted headroom to deal with large energy users up to 2030. Independently of me - it is not just me saying it - the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, through EirGrid and ESB Networks, has already put forward its plans up to 2030, which will deal with 50,000 homes per year, the homes Government said it wants to deliver over its term, and deal with economic growth. Look at what our energy system has been able to do. Going back to 1990, the economy has grown sixfold, the population is up 50% and we built 135,000 homes in the previous Government, of which the Deputy was part. No one came to me and said an estate was not being built because there was a big data centre or large pharmaceutical or other company across the road. I will not say it is dishonest but it is disingenuous to continue with this argument that there is a conflict between economic growth, investment in our grid and housing growth; there is not.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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The Minister used the words "disingenuous" and "red herring". I am referring to a warning raised by the Secretary General of the Minister's own Department. It is a warning and an issue. She spoke about a balance between AI, particularly the highly intensive data centres required for new AI developments, and housing. If there is a red herring, it was not I who raised it originally. I made the point in an earlier question about 21% use of energy by data centres here in Ireland right now. The next nearest country is Singapore at 7.5%. That is the difference. It will grow to 28% if all of those 40 data centres about which I spoke earlier are granted planning permission. The Minister already set out how some of the big offshore wind projects have been delayed because of An Bord Pleanála's decisions. How will we bridge that gap and, at the same time, decarbonise the huge parts of our economy that still rely on fossil fuels and need to be decarbonised?

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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There is still significant potential in onshore renewables. I mentioned the auction later this year, RESS 5, which I believe will be heavily subscribed. These projects already have connection agreements and planning permission. There has already been significant growth there. We want to see construction in our offshore renewable projects in the next couple of years. I am just being honest; it unlikely we will see those projects fully connected to our grid by 2029 or 2030. There will possibly be one. The remainder will come in early 2030 and 2031. Life exists post 2030. The year 2030 is a target date set clearly in our climate targets but there are years after that. Last year, we hit 5 GW of onshore. We have vast potential to do a lot more and we will because we have put the infrastructure in place to do that. We will continue with the auction and engagement process with the development sector in relation to our renewables.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I thank the Minister for his honesty about the risk of some of those projects not delivering within the 2030 timeline. Would it be the Minister's belief then that if those renewable projects are not going to deliver in that timeline, we must look at the timeline within which new data centres are brought on? There are 40 in various stages. Some have been granted full planning permission. If they are all brought on to the system between now and 2030, that will be a further 7% growth in the overall total of our energy system being used by data centres. If our renewables are not coming online at the speed we and the Minister would like, do we also have to take a similar approach to delaying the connection of further data centres to our system? Will the plan about which the Minister spoke be cognisant of that?

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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The plan will be cognisant of what energy capacity we have. That is across the board. I do not give the connection agreements. They are done independently. The Deputy will know that some data centres have not been given connection agreements. It has already happened where it is not deemed appropriate. We need to plan for the future too. That is why I mentioned 2030 and that life exists post 2030. Some project timelines for planning and delivery will be past that date. The priority for this Government is delivering housing for our people and investing in our grid, water and public transport. Electric vehicle charging and the advancement of electric vehicles also takes capacity from our grid, as will heat pumps and more homes, jobs and people. PR6 takes that into account. CRU will then look at connection agreements, especially the large energy user policy on which it has engaged with stakeholders, not just on the data centre side but across the board.