Ireland's data centre boom defended as essential industrial pillar by energy minister
Energy Minister Darragh O'Brien said data centres are a core part of Ireland’s industrial base, likening them to car factories in Germany, and warned against curbing their growth.
Ireland’s energy minister, Darragh O'Brien, defended the rapid expansion of data centres, arguing they are as vital to the Irish economy as automobile factories are to Germany or Spain. He emphasized that the IT sector, which includes roughly 20,000 data-centre jobs, forms a major part of the country’s industrial output. O'Brien dismissed calls to restrict the industry, saying Ireland does not have traditional heavy manufacturing.
The Commission for Regulation of Utilities has proposed a scheme that would lower network tariffs for data centres that agree to occasional supply interruptions due to gas pressure, a compromise O'Brien said falls under the regulator’s remit. He also noted that recent government policy mandates new data-centre connections to obtain at least 80% of their electricity from renewable sources. Earlier this year, Taoiseach Micheál Martin reiterated the government’s commitment to fostering data-centre growth on the international stage.
