Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 16 April 2026
169. Deputy Donna McGettigan asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment the number of operational data centres using 'dry cooling' methods; the recorded number of days annually that each such facility reverted to water-based cooling; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27786/26]
View answer170. Deputy Donna McGettigan asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment if his Department maintains a national database or specific inventory of the quantity of waste heat currently recovered from data centres in Ireland; if not, the specific scientific or empirical data used to inform the Large Energy User Action Plan (LEAP) published in January 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27791/26]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 169 and 170 together.
Article 12 of the Energy Efficiency Directive 2023/1791 (‘EED’) and its delegated Regulation 2024/1364 provides for an obligation for owners and operators of certain sized data centres to monitor and make publicly available, subject to Union and national law protecting trade and business secrets and confidentiality, information on key metrics on their energy and sustainability performance. The required indicators relate to energy consumption, cooling, waste heat utilisation and renewable energy use, among others.
As part of the implementation of the EED, data centres in Ireland are reporting this information to a confidential EU database on data centres established and operated by the European Commission. Reporting is ongoing and the Commission is responsible for making it publicly available in an aggregated manner in line with the delegated regulation. This information is being used to establish an EU wide rating scheme to measure and promote efficiencies in the energy and sustainability performance of data centres. The Commission has recently opened a public consultation on its draft legislation to give effect to this rating scheme.
The overarching objective of the Large Energy User Action Plan (LEAP) is to enable Ireland to attract next generation investment in those energy intensive sectors associated with the greatest future strategic economic and regional employment opportunities. It is important to note that this may include energy intensive industries and sectors such as semiconductors, very large manufacturers and pharmaceuticals, in addition to the development of critical digital infrastructure such as data centres.
The approach set out in LEAP will ensure the alignment of Ireland’s industrial policy with other strategic Government priorities, including housing, transport and water, as well as the electrification of the wider Irish economy and society. It will facilitate further alignment of future energy-intensive industrial development with robust energy security and affordability for Irish households and businesses, including through future assessment on the appropriate allocation of costs associated with infrastructure delivery.
The implementation of LEAP will take place through the delivery of 17 key enabling actions, including through alignment with recommendations within a report published by the International Energy Agency in December 2025 - ‘Powering Ireland’s Energy Future’. A key pillar of LEAP will be to provide a framework for the establishment of green energy parks, in which to co-locate the most energy-intensive large energy user sectors with the supply of renewables and other enabling technologies. This concept of industrial parks primarily powered by green energy was originally set out in ‘Powering Prosperity – Ireland’s Offshore Wind Industrial Strategy’, published by Government in March 2023. The LEAP approach was further informed by an independent report commissioned by the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment (DETE) 'An Economic Assessment of Green Energy Park Concepts', which was published alongside LEAP in January 2026, and available on the DETE website at: enterprise.gov.ie/en/publications/leap.html.
