Data Centres
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-22
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Roderic O'Gorman (GP), Dublin West

Good policy requires that we assess benefits and costs. If the Government is confident in its approach towards data centre expansion, then it should have no need to place its thumb on the scales, as was done in the case of this report. The Minister may disagree with some criticisms of the approach, but many people will think it is reasonable to ask whether a report that was intended to inform public policy should have examined the benefits and the trade-offs associated with further data centre growth.
It is very clear from the terms of reference released that the report had been intended to address these issues. Why, then, were they removed? Given that data centres account for such a huge share of national electricity demand and are already increasing electricity bills, this is not an abstract question. We have had one useful admission from the Minister, who stated that the KPMG report was not commissioned as a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis. Is it not time that the Government commission a comprehensive report on the benefits and costs of data centres?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-22/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:49+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-22