Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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70. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the impact greenhouse gas permits granted to data centres will have on meeting EU ETS targets. [11570/21]

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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71. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the impact greenhouse gas permits granted to data centres will have on the State’s anticipated revenue from auctioning credits. [11571/21]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 70 and 71 together.

The EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) works on a 'Cap and Trade' principle, where the overall volume of greenhouse gases that can be emitted by the entities covered by the ETS are subject to a cap set at EU level. Within this cap, companies receive (free allocations issued by their Member State and approved by Commission), or buy emissions allowances which they can trade with one another as needed. Each year, an installation must surrender enough allowances to cover all its greenhouse gas emissions, otherwise fines are imposed. If a company reduces its emissions, it can keep the spare allowances to cover its future needs or alternatively sell them to another company that is short of allowances.

The addition of new installations, such as data centres, will not change the total amount of allowances available. The amount of allowances available is limited to meet the current EU ETS emissions target of minus 43% by 2030 versus 2005 levels, thereby, ensuring the ETS target will be met.

The current ETS trading period covers the years 2021-2030. The basis for the amount of allowances a Member State receives revenue from over each trading period in the ETS is fixed before the start of that trading period. Therefore, the expected revenues to a Member State will not change due to the addition of new installations in the ETS, such as data centres