Data Centres
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-17
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Brian Stanley (IND), Laois

Significant work is going on to upgrade the network and it is badly needed, but there is a cost to it. The Minister outlined the 190,000 jobs, but very few of them are in data centres. The point I am making is that almost a quarter of the available supply is being used by data centres and there are reports it could grow to more than one third and more. That puts huge pressure on the network. It puts a huge amount of pressure on EirGrid and ESB Networks to upgrade the grid and put significant investment into it. I am in favour of the investment in it because I welcome the opening of the substation in my area, where it is needed for the increased industry and jobs in the area and the increased population, not to mention the housing that is being built, but a recent study has shown data centres are putting an additional cost on householders.
The data centres are getting cheaper electricity than Joe and Mary Public. That is the point. They are getting cheaper electricity while the public is paying for the upgrade. There is now an upgrade levy on everyone's bill. That is the key point the Minister needs to take home. We have a huge proliferation of them compared with other EU states and some American states are saying "No, not on our patch" to them now, but we are accepting everything. We need to have a more measured approach to this.

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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