Data Centres, Energy Use and Climate Change: Motion [Private Members]
Dail Éireann — 2026-06-17
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Darragh O'Brien (FF), Dublin Fingal East

That is why we brought forward the large energy user action plan and the decision of CRU in relation to large energy users. It is a plan-led approach going forward. Any new data centre connections will have to be on the basis of using 80% renewables - new renewables, not existing renewables. This idea that existing renewables will be used up is not correct. We need that plan-led approach. I support the ICT sector, new jobs and new technologies. It is good for us as a country and a small, open economy. We cannot be complacent about that. The idea that we would pull the shutters down again on this area is not correct, but it has to be done in a planned way. I agree with many contributors from the Opposition who have said this. The question now is how we can continue to protect families and businesses in the short term.
Retrofitting is critical. Many people, including Deputy Healy, were talking about middle-income families being able to access grants. That is why I have specifically brought forward the retrofitting passport for households and broken down the grants such that we are not just doing deep retrofits but are allowing for the inclusion of windows and doors, attic insulation, wall cavity insulation and all those different things, including solar at scale as well. If we go back to when we started retrofitting, about 268,000 homes across the country have now been retrofitted to different degrees.
That protects them to a large degree against future price shocks, reduces their energy usage, reduces their emissions and makes them warmer and more efficient. We need to accelerate that. In the first quarter of this year, 12,000 homes were upgraded under the scheme, including 1,500 under the warmer homes scheme for those at risk of energy poverty. Since the formation of this Government, 70,000 homes have been retrofitted.
The purpose of the change in the grants is to ensure that households can access them. We have seen an absolutely incredible response, with over 50,000 applications in the first four months of this year, including significant applications for solar. We want to do more with regard to batteries. That is the position on households.
Five thousand businesses have been retrofitted. Of course, we can do more, but we are targeting 73,000 households to be retrofitted this year. It will be the largest number done in any given year. We are actually building up a really good domestic sector and domestic expertise, with new Irish companies, particularly in our rural areas. This really speaks to regional development.
What are we doing at a national level regarding our grid and energy? We have now reached a really significant figure of 8 GW of renewable energy integrated into our system. Yes, of course we need to do more. One gigawatt powers about 500,000 homes. That is what we are talking about. Our wind capacity has doubled in ten years. We have added 5 GW of renewables in just a ten-year period. The figure for solar will probably be 3 GW by the end of this year alone, with over 1 GW from rooftop solar. We want to continue to support households in this regard.
I am considering measures with regard to domestic batteries. I have asked the ESB to examine the whole area of balcony or plug-in solar, as it is called. These are things that are critically needed.
What is also critically needed is investment in our grid. For argument's sake, I will use the example of a capital project that should have been completed already and that needs to be completed without delay, namely, the North-South interconnector. There have been four reviews of the interconnector, including in respect of whether it should be underground or overground. The reviews are done now. There are no more and it needs to happen. Three local authorities need to discharge the planning consents and we need to get building it. I returned from a conference this morning with my colleague in the North, Caoimhe Archibald. The Executive in the North is in absolute agreement on this as well. This one piece of infrastructure will do more for the resilience of our electricity grid than any other project, and that needs to start. I expect cross-party support, from both the Government and Opposition, to commence work on this and to deliver the project by 2031, which is still exacting. That will deliver affordability.
On offshore wind, the target was 5 GW by 2030, as Deputy Gogarty mentioned. There have been planning consent delays all the way through. We hope to have positive planning decisions on two projects this year. My target is to get them to construction this year. That would be a game-changer for us. I absolutely agree in this regard. In the meantime, we need more onshore wind and more onshore solar.
To answer the questions some Deputies have raised about the wind energy guidelines, the revised guidelines will be published and made available this year. I get the point in that regard. The revised guidelines will be produced this year through the work I am doing with the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Browne.
I thank Labour Party colleagues for the motion. This has been a decent debate. I will not be accepting the motion but I look forward to continuing to work with the Deputies on a constructive basis.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-06-17/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-21T01:01:09+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-17