Data Centres
Dail Éireann — 2025-12-18
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Paul Murphy (PBP), Dublin South-West

Will the Minister of State expand on how it is possible to have a policy of exponential growth of data centres that are using fossil fuels? How does that coincide with what he says to the effect that this has to exist within the bounds of our climate targets. We are signed up to the EED, which has a legally binding target to reduce energy consumption by 11.7% by 2030. Ireland's target reduction is 16%. Yet, we have a decision paper from the CRU which states that medium-term electricity demand from data centres could reach 5.8 GW. That is equal to the peak energy demand for the entire country. It is also more than the entire 5 GW target for offshore wind energy by 2030, which the Government is sure to meet.
It has been stated that Ireland's total electricity demand has grown by 30% over the past ten years, with the demand from data centres having greatly contributed to this level of growth. This level of growth is projected to continue over the next ten years, with data centres representing a larger share of total energy demand. How does that tally with a commitment and a legal obligation to reduce energy demand when it is being state that this is going to continue to go up fast and that data centres are a driving factor.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2025-12-18/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:29+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-12-18