Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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226. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the status of his engagement with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and relevant State agencies to ensure that there is a plan-led, regionally balanced approach to large developments such as data centres, taking into account congestion, existing grid availability and the opportunity to co-locate significant renewable energy opportunities; if he will the outline the outcome there will be from his work with relevant Departments and State agencies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39483/22]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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Data centres play a critical role in supporting digital and communications infrastructure across all sectors of our economy. They provide benefits to society including the creation of employment and the stimulation of economic growth through foreign direct investment. However, as large energy users they also present considerable challenges to the future planning and operation of the country’s power system.There have been major policy, market and geopolitical developments with implications for the data centre sector since the publication of the 'Government Statement on the Role of Data Centres in Ireland's Enterprise Strategy' in mid-2018. For instance, last November, to address security of supply concerns, the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (CRU) published a direction to the system operators, on grid connections for data centres, which introduced strict assessment criteria by which to process applications.

The Department of Enterprise, Trade & Employment has committed, under the Climate Action Plan 2021, to reviewing its 2018 Statement on data centres, taking into account the relationship between data centres and their impact on the energy system in terms of grid constraints, renewable energy targets, sectoral emissions ceilings and security of supply. As such, in recent months D/ETE has been engaging with relevant Government Departments, including my own department, and state agencies, including the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities and EirGrid in its role as Transmission System Operator, to finalise this statement, which is due for publication later this summer.