Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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80. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the details of the progress being made to develop efficiency standards for equipment and processes for data centres as outlined in the Programme for Government; when those standards will be finalised; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42876/21]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The Programme for Government commits to developing efficiency standards for equipment and processes, particularly those set to grow rapidly, such as data centres.

Earlier this year, the European Commission adopted Shaping Europe's Digital Future, which includes an objective to foster an open, democratic and sustainable society. Key actions include initiatives to achieve climate-neutral, highly energy efficient and sustainable data centres by no later than 2030. The EU Ecodesign Regulation on servers and data storage products sets minimum standards around the environmental impact of these products and requires that circular economy principles will be mandatory for suppliers of this type of equipment, from next year.