Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions
Dail Éireann — 2026-05-28
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Paul Lawless (AON), Mayo

Today in Ireland, a pensioner living alone or a family pays almost twice as much for a unit of electricity than a data centre. This is despite the fact many data centres are parts of the wealthiest corporations in the world. The demand from data centres is driving up the cost of electricity. In 2024, data centres consumed 22% of electricity in Ireland. That was more than every household in urban Ireland. That is an incredible figure. A report released today by Friends of the Earth shows that, on our current trajectory, data centres will add €1.4 billion to the cost of household electricity in the coming years. That is a hidden data centre tax.
Every week at my constituency clinic, this is a major issue. Last week, an elderly pensioner came to my clinic and showed me her electricity bill.
She asked me if it could be real, such was the extortionate level of the amount listed. The cost of electricity is a major issue in the cost-of-living crisis. Over 300,000 people are in energy arrears. In many cases, these are hard-working people and pensioners. They are really struggling. The policy of the Government has essentially been to offer energy credits before an election and then abandon them afterwards.
Data centres are paying about 50% less per unit of electricity. Families cannot understand this and are really frustrated. This is by design, in many respects. The trajectory is going to add more costs to households. When will the Government introduce legislation to regulate the data centre sector in the context of electricity prices? When is it going to introduce a sustainable policy in this regard?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-05-28/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-21T01:01:08+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-28