Louis O'Hara (Galway East, Sinn Fein)
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254. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his views on the expansion of data centre electricity demand; his further views on the impact this increase in data-centre demand may have on Ireland’s electricity-generation capacity; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30222/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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The Government recognises that data centres are critical infrastructure for our modern economy as they provide the foundation for almost all online aspects of our lives. Our intent is to deliver a balanced approach to facilitating additional demand for energy by data centres while also ensuring the competitiveness and security of our energy system.

The Programme for Government 2025 outlines the Government's policy position in relation to large energy users. As a Government, we have prioritised increased and unprecedented investment in our grid and expanding our energy generation. We have been clear about our desire to facilitate further FDI and indigenous investment, including the need to facilitate new technologies and data storage.

More broadly, to address the challenges faced by our electricity system, the Programme for Government 2025 includes a commitment to develop a comprehensive plan to accelerate energy generation, connectivity, and planning processes. This plan will guide the development of data centres in Ireland and provide certainty to industry with regards to making short and medium-term investments.

The All-Island Resource Adequacy Assessment (AIRAA) is an electricity system security study that assesses the balance between electricity generation capacity and electricity demand over the next ten years. The recently published AIRAA 2025-34 shows an improved picture for Ireland's generation adequacy on last year's study. This improvement is due to new generation capacity additions, an improved accounting of existing generation, including from renewables and interconnection capacities. It is also due to risk mitigations, delivered by Government and State agencies, such as the delivery of Temporary Emergency Generation (TEG).

The CRU as the regulator is responsible for ensuring appropriate levels of investment in our electricity and gas infrastructure, and for the subsequent proportionate allocation of costs for this investment, across all relevant customers.