Data Centres
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-17
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Darragh O'Brien (FF), Dublin Fingal East

Any connection application made goes through an independent process and it can be accepted or declined. Not every connection application that is made is approved. That is a fact, and if we look at how many new data centres have been built or delivered in the past few years, there are very few. Someone referenced Sweden. If we look at Finland, it has received extremely large data centre investment, to the tune of about €20 billion. Obvious we have to step through what is appropriate and what can be managed and manage overall demand, while really focusing on expanding our grid capacity for everybody, for the good of jobs and our people and, very importantly, to ensure we have more renewables in our system to reduce bills. This is where the focus is at. Deputy Ahern is perfectly entitled to raise the matter.
With regard to AI regulation, it is a debate that is current and that will continue. It is important that it is done appropriately.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-17/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:48+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-17