Opposition TDs have said that rising energy costs are on constituents’ minds.
Sinn Féin TD Paul Donnelly has said that there are “real fears” in local communities about the impact of data centres, and Green TD Roderic O’Gorman welcomed news that the government will advance plug-in solar panels for apartment dwellers.
Donnelly said that data centres are “prolonging” Ireland’s reliance on fossil fuels.
With heating costs and electricity costs high on voters’ minds, Donnelly pressured the government to change tack on their current policy on data centres.
Per Donnelly, electricity demand in Ireland is growing at roughly 23% annually, and data centres currently consume 21% or 22% of the state’s total electricity, with the possibility of data centres taking up as much as 30% of Ireland’s electricity demand by 2030.
“Data centres absorb virtually all new added wind and renewable energy capacity. Instead of the greening of the world economy, new green, clean energy feeds the digital infrastructure, leaving the rest of the country still heavily reliant on fossil fuels,” he warned.
“Data centres prolong fossil fuel dependency by bypassing the fuel grids, drive up wholesale prices and bills, and put strain on grid reliability; the issue of data centres and the energy that they consume goes on and on,” he said.
The Sinn Féin TD said it was “worrying” that the moratorium on new data centres was lifted by the government in January, and that local communities were now anxious about the impact it will have on Ireland’s energy supplies.
In late October, Ronan Kelly of Digital Infrastructure Ireland compared people who are opposed to data centres to “Brexiteers,” and claimed that people who were opposed to data centres were partaking in conspiracy theories.
In an interview with The Journal, Kelly claimed that people who are opposed to data centres are “very analogous to me of the scenes in the UK of people on the streets when they secured the Brexit vote; ten years later, we don’t see them celebrating anymore.”
With Kelly serving as the head of Ireland’s data centre lobby (with the ties to government that come with it), Donnelly questioned if the government shared Kelly’s beliefs.
Donnelly likened Kelly’s comments to “reds under the bed” propaganda techniques.
“He (Kelly) does a disservice to public debate by engaging in reds under the bed or China scaremongering because it disrespects the millions of people across the world, not only here in Ireland, who look at the statistics on the impacts, including visual impacts, that data centres have on their communities,” he said.
Fine Gael junior minister Alan Dillon insisted the government were now moving towards a plan-led approach as opposed to “unmanaged development.”
“If one looks at what has been introduced through the large energy user action plan, through aligned future demand growth with renewable energy development, transmission infrastructure and security of supply, the reality is that we are looking at significant progress in renewable energy generation,” Dillon stated.
He said that 40% and 50% of our electricity is regularly coming from renewable sources, but also acknowledged that demand is increasing.
“Government policy is focused on accelerating that progress even further and continuing our twin objectives around decarbonisation and digitalisation.”
Donnelly said that Ireland leads the EU in terms of energy used by data centres.
Per Donnelly, there are 31 MW of data centre capacity per 100,000 people.
It is more than triple the nearest competitor, the Netherlands, and ten times the European average.
He said it was “worrying” that the government policy was to embrace data centre development.
“If one looks at the amount of clean energy, data centres are going to rely more on gas. Where does that leave our energy strategy? Where does it leave our ability to cope with the amount of energy that data centres suck up?”
Furthermore, Donnelly alleged that data centres, located in Dublin, contained infrastructure that is being used by the Israeli government.
“Data centres are hosting infrastructure for an apartheid regime; these data centres are not at all what we are talking about for the future,” the Dublin West TD said.
Dillion asserted that digital services provide an “enormous service” to Irish citizens, along with businesses and public services.
He noted that the issue is how the government manages that pathway forward.
He insisted that future development will be linked with renewable energy projects, and there will be proper planning policy and infrastructure delivery.
“The answer is not about rising demand. It is about bringing more renewable energy projects and grid infrastructure on stream. That is what we are focused on in the here and now,” he said.
Fellow Dublin West TD O’Gorman has said that plug-in solar options should be an option for Irish households who are concerned about energy costs.
He said that Ireland has been slow to adapt the technology, which is already in widespread use in other European nations such as Germany.
Minister Darragh O’Brien confirmed that plans were afoot to make the technology more widely available in Ireland.
“At my request, ESB Networks established a plug-in solar working group in May 2026 to examine pathways for safe, standardised and scalable deployment of the technology; to date, the group has met nine times.”
“The working group recently submitted an options report to my Department, setting out recommendations on matters including installation approaches, product specifications and customer guidance. In parallel to that, we are working with stakeholders to progress elements of the regulatory framework,” he explained.
He said that the planned next steps include an Ireland-specific safety assessment, legislative review, development of a product specification, publication of detailed customer guidance and the establishment of an online product registration portal.
“Further work is required to ensure the technology can be deployed safely, which is what we want, and that it is supported by an appropriate regulatory framework, with any legal barriers addressed. We are currently progressing the safety assessment and the legislative review, both of which will conclude this year,” the Fianna Fáil minister said.
In plain English: there were barriers to the technology, and the minister is working to remove the barriers.
The Minister for the Environment said that the UK approved plug-in solar panels in August, beginning the process in February and hoped that could be the template for Ireland to follow.
The Minister laid out a tentative quarter 2 of 2027 date, but in the grand Irish political tradition, that is subject to change and/or delays.
He stressed, “we want to get this right; I want to have it in place by the end of quarter two where people can actually go and purchase these units.”
“We have got to make sure that the internal wiring and electricity infrastructure is safe for this to happen. Cost wise, it will be between €500 and €1,000. The need for grant aid may not be as distinct as it is for other schemes.”
He noted that grants may be available for low-income households, social housing, and apartments.
O’Gorman said, “this is an opportunity to bring the benefits of low-cost electricity to people who cannot currently enjoy it. We have to do everything we can to speed that up and make it available to as many families as possible.”