CLIMATE AND ENERGY minister Darragh O’Brien faced tough questioning today on Ireland’s data centre policy when he visited the EU’s climate committee in Brussels. 

O’Brien was in attendance at the committee to update its members on Ireland’s priorities for the EU Presidency in relation to climate action and environmental protection.

He told committee members that the Irish presidency of the EU will see the Environmental Council work towards a “whole-of-society approach to building a climate-neutral, sustainable and resource-efficient economy”.

While there, he was questioned by MEPs on various aspects of the EU’s climate policy, with a number of MEPs quizzing the minister on Ireland’s approach to data centres and how it aligns with climate targets. 

Ireland is home to over 80 data centre operations, and in recent years the current government have made facilitating data centres a cornerstone of Ireland’s industrial policy. 

Currently, the sector employs more than 35,000 people in Ireland and is made up of over 180 companies across design, build, commissioning and maintenance.

However, because data centres are heavy users of water and energy, there has been significant pushback against them on environmental grounds. 

The Journal Investigates has reported that data centre generators run on fossil fuels and  have released huge quantities of CO2 over the past few years. 

During today’s committee, O’Brien was asked how he plans to “shield” the EU from the negative impacts of data centres. 

German S&D MEP Tiemo Wölken noted the recent UN report, which highlighted Ireland’s approach to data centres as a “cautionary tale” for the rest of the world because of their significant energy use.

“What is your plan for shielding European consumers from the negative effects of data centres in terms of energy prices and water consumption, as well as air and noise pollution?,” he asked. 

Similarly, Green MEP Marie Toussaint also noted that data centres have resulted in higher energy costs for Irish households.

Meanwhile, Irish Left MEP and Sinn Féin representative Lynn Boylan made the same point about data centres contributing to higher electricity costs for Irish households and noted that data centres in Ireland are currently using over 22% of Ireland’s electricity. 

“A complete outlier within the EU,” Boylan said.

Defending Ireland’s approach to data centres, O’Brien said “ICT is at the forefront of driving the Irish economy forward, with nearly 200,000 jobs in that space”.

“What we need to do is to manage energy demand across all large energy users across the European Union,” he said, adding that new data centres in Ireland must generate 80% of their electricity from renewable sources. 

“People who know Ireland, know we’re not a large industrial nation. We’re not car manufacturers. We don’t have a large industrial base, and many of our countries across the European Union use energy for different things,” O’Brien said.

He added: “But I think from a European perspective also, it behoves us on behalf of our citizens to ensure that we are at the forefront of new technologies, and that we don’t close the door to new technologies, either.”