Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions
Dail Éireann — 2026-05-28
============================================================

Paul Lawless (AON), Mayo

If the Government is going to make Ireland the data centre capital of Europe, it better have a plan. A plan does not mean that ordinary households are subsidising data centres. That is currently what is happening. The report to which I refer estimates that the current trajectory in terms of data centres is 22%, and that this is on the rise and is driving up the cost of energy in this country. The truth is that this is going to mean an estimated €1.4 billion in additional costs to consumers over the next number of years. Some 300,000 people are already in energy arrears. Ireland has the most expensive electricity prices in Europe. The ESB is profiteering. It made €650 million last year. The CEO of the ESB earns over €300,000. Who is the ESB serving? Who is the Government's energy policy serving in a situation where data centres are driving up the energy costs for families and paying less per unit of electricity?

---

Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

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