Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

55. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his views on reports that United States government institutions such as the Pentagon and the United States Department of Justice store data in Ireland as part of their redundancy strategy. [46914/22]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The management of connections to the electricity grid, including data centres and other large energy users, is a matter for the system operators, EirGrid and ESB Networks, under rules determined by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU), which is an independent statutory body and solely accountable to a committee of the Oireachtas for the performance of its functions.

In November 2021, the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities issued a direction to EirGrid, the electricity transmission system operator, and ESB Networks, the electricity distribution system operator, that requires each of the system operators to prioritise data centre connections based on location, the availability of on-site generation (and/or storage), and flexibility in reducing demand when required. This will reduce the potential impact of electricity demand from data centres on security of supply.

In July of this year, Government published a new ‘Statement on the Role of Data Centres in Ireland's Enterprise Strategy’ with the aim of ensuring alignment with Ireland’s renewable energy targets, sectoral emissions and climate priorities. The objective is to make sure that we are planning for new energy demand, while ensuring that we meet our ambitious renewable energy targets. My Department has begun reaching out to key stakeholders such as EirGrid, ESBN, Gas Networks Ireland, and the CRU to determine appropriate actions and next steps based on the key objectives and stated Government preferences set out in this Statement, and to resolve the capacity deficits over the coming decade.

In addition, in 18 August the CRU launched a two-week public consultation on proposed structural changes to Electricity Network Tariffs to apply from 1 October 2022 to 30 September 2023. These changes aim to encourage energy users, particularly Extra-Large Energy Users (including data centres) to reduce/shift their demand at times of high energy demand/low renewable energy.

The matters raised in the Question relate to the connection of data centres to the grid and the nature of data stored therein; I have no role or function in either matter.