Energy Policy: Motion [Private Members]
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-17
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Darragh O'Brien (FF), Dublin Fingal East

I move:
To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following:
"the Government:
— remains deeply concerned about the conflict in the Middle East and its impact on energy prices;
— is acutely aware of the impact on households and businesses of the recent increases in the cost of energy, and is actively monitoring the current geopolitical situation and its impact on costs;
— has taken action to help households and businesses with the cost of fuel and energy by introducing one of the most comprehensive support packages in the European Union (EU); and
— affirms that energy affordability is a priority for this Government with the Energy Affordability Action Plan to be submitted to Government in the coming weeks and consideration ongoing of supports for household;
notes that:
— the ongoing conflict in the Middle East has caused international wholesale gas prices to increase which has a significant knock-on impact on retail electricity prices;
— supplier hedging strategies have and are continuing to help cushion households from the full volatility in international wholesale energy markets;
— price setting by electricity suppliers, including standing charges is a commercial and operational matter for the companies concerned and each such company has its own different approach to pricing decisions over time, in accordance with factors such as their overall company strategic direction and costs such as staffing, tax, infrastructure;
— Government understands that any price increase can be a challenge for households and businesses;
— for that reason, the Government has taken action to help households and businesses with the cost of fuel and energy;
— extensions to the package of temporary fuel supports have brought the total cost of these measures to over €1.4 billion and are helping to reduce the cost burden at the petrol pump;
— successive Budgets have provided targeted support to help households with energy costs;
— in Budget 2026, key measures included an extension until 2030 of the nine per cent Value Added Tax (VAT) rate currently applied to gas and electricity bills, enhanced social protection payments, including an increase to the Fuel Allowance weekly rate and an expansion in the eligibility rules, and a record allocation of €640 million for SEAI retrofit schemes;
— at the same time, additional retrofitting supports have been rolled out to further help households, capital expenditure of over €2 billion has delivered over 287,000 home energy upgrades from 2019 to the end of August 2026, including over 39,500 fully funded upgrades for households at risk of energy poverty under the Warmer Homes Scheme;
— in January this year we expanded and reformed retrofitting schemes to ensure more homeowners can receive grants, the new measures included increased attic and wall insulation supports, an increased grant of €12,500 for heat pump installation, and new grants for windows and doors;
— almost 89,000 applications have been processed to the end of August 2026, an increase of 116 per cent on the same period last year;
— this year to the end of August 2026, almost 42,000 homes have been upgraded through SEAI schemes, including over 6,800 homes at risk of energy poverty under the Warmer Homes Scheme;
— the latest Eurostat report (comparing electricity prices across the EU) outlines that Ireland had the fifth highest household electricity prices in the second half of 2025 when adjusted to take account of the "Purchasing Power Standard" (i.e. practical affordability, taking account of household income);
— the four biggest energy retailers have confirmed that hardship funds and focused measures are in place for any customers in difficulty;
— switching energy supplier or plan could save the average electricity and gas customers up to €700 and €400 (respectively) annually;
— protections are in place for customers experiencing difficulties in paying their bills and households struggling with their bill are strongly encouraged to engage with their supplier;
— the Department of Social Protection can also provide support through the Additional Needs Payment to help households meet expenses, including difficulties with fuel bills;
— Government has also established the National Energy Affordability Taskforce (NEAT) to identify, assess and implement measures that will enhance energy affordability for households and businesses while delivering key renewable commitments and protecting security of supply and economic stability;
— the NEAT continues to work intensively on an Energy Affordability Action Plan to be submitted to Government in the coming weeks;
— the range of supports that were included in Budget 2026 are in line with the movement away from one-off measures, towards permanent supports with funding also provided to address structural issues such as retrofit and infrastructure;
— the Government will continue to monitor and assess the situation in relation to energy costs; and
— the Government will also make a range of relevant decisions as part of Budget 2027;
further notes that:
— data centres represent critical digital infrastructure that are central to Ireland's modern economy;
— they strengthen Ireland's position as a strategic knowledge intensive regional hub for the Information and Communications Technology sector and also support broader retention and expansion of existing investment that support billions in annual economic value for Ireland via high-wage employment, tax receipts and supplier ecosystems;
— when considering the impact of data centres, we must also weigh wider economic benefits — tax revenues, employment, broader digital infrastructure value and significant support and linkages provided to other high value sectors of the economy;
— currently the industry employs 19,500 directly, in addition, Ireland's technology sector, underpinned by digital infrastructure in data centres, accounted for employment of 182,900 people in Q4 2024, equivalent to seven per cent of Ireland's total workforce;
— while data centres are large energy users, unlike other European countries that have heavy-industry bases, Ireland's industrial electricity demand is primarily concentrated in our digital economy, this is our core energy-intensive industry;
— comparing total non-residential electricity consumption, which includes industry and data centres, Ireland's consumption is in line with Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris, and Dublin, (FLAP-D) and other European markets, which represent the tier-one, foundational hubs of Europe's digital infrastructure;
— the Government has for a long time recognised that data centres and their energy consumption need to be managed and planned appropriately and we are taking the regulatory, policy and investment measures to deliver on this;
— the Government is committed to delivering a balanced approach to facilitate sustainable data centre demand while also ensuring overall energy security and affordability for consumers and businesses;
— the Government's Large Energy User (LEU) Action Plan, published in January 2026, sets out a 'plan-led' approach for very large and energy intensive investments, which due to their scale and energy consumption benefit from co-ordinated national infrastructure planning;
— the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) LEU connection policy, published in December 2025, establishes a pathway for new data centres to seek connection to the electricity system, that addresses security of electricity supply risks, system constraints and promotes renewable energy targets;
— the CRU is responsible for electricity connection policy and the economic regulation of the electricity system operators ESB Networks and EirGrid;
— Electricity Network Tariffs Structure Review, are set every year by the CRU to recover the costs of developing, operating, and maintaining the electricity grid, they fund a grid that is more resilient to storms and supplies electricity to a growing population, new housing and expanding businesses;
— extra-large energy users, like data centres, have in recent years seen large increases in network costs, with average increase of 175 per cent compared with a 45 per cent increase for domestic customers during 2020-2026;
— the United Nations (UN) university report referenced Ireland as 'a cautionary example of local grid stress from concentrated digital infrastructure', however, it should be noted that though referenced, Ireland was not a central tenet to the study but rather a brief paragraph in a much wider report;
— data centres are not a major driver of demand on the public water supply network, accounting for less than 0.3 per cent of the water supplied by Uisce Eireann;
— in addition, not all data centres use water from the Uisce Eireann network, with a number of them having their own wells or utilising rainwater harvesting and on-site storage;
— the CRU's LEU connection policy supports Government renewable energy targets, as data centres above certain thresholds will be required to meet at least 80 per cent of their annual demand with new additional renewable electricity generated in the Republic of Ireland; and
— according to the Environmental Protection Agency's Greenhouse Gas Emissions data for 2025, Ireland now has the lowest level of greenhouse gas emissions in 36 years, including a 7.1 per cent reduction in energy industries, to an all-time low, this demonstrates that economic growth has been definitively decoupled from greenhouse gas emissions;
— the Friends of the Earth report referenced makes particular assumptions about how the electricity market works and the authors acknowledge that the modelling used in the report has limitations;
— consistent with the Government's position, a recent Friends of the Earth report underlines the importance of deploying even more renewable electricity to remove gas related cost effect driving energy prices’, both Government LEAP policy and CRU LEU Connection Decision recognise and support sustainable LEU development ensuring renewables are a key component in any development going forward;
— the Government is committed to delivering a balanced approach to facilitate sustainable data centre developments, which operate within the boundaries of our climate legislation and targets and are associated with strong economic activity and employment, support our society, and make efficient use of our electricity grid.".
Tairgim an frithrún. I thank the Deputies for tabling the motion. It gives us an opportunity to discuss this issue. I reject the motion - I take some of the points that are made in it - and that is why I brought forward the countermotion.
To set the context of where we are, we all understand that, in particular, the conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, which have not been mentioned - Deputy Boyd Barrett mentioned the Middle East briefly - have caused significant disruption to global energy markets. I do not think anyone would disagree with that. We recognise-----

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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