Households paying the price for Government’s data centre choices – Bacik
Households paying the price for Government’s data centre choices – Bacik - The Labour Party
Labour leader Ivana Bacik TD has challenged the Taoiseach over this Government’s refusal to curb data centre expansion while households struggle with electricity bills. Speaking in the Dáil at Leaders’ Questions today, Deputy Bacik said that the Taoiseach’s response had failed to address her questions about energy costs and who pays for growing demand.
Deputy Bacik said:
“People opening their electricity bills are wondering how they will afford the next payment. One in seven households is already in electricity arrears. This Government cannot keep dismissing the pressure on those households while allowing unsustainable data centre growth.
“Research commissioned by Friends of the Earth and Beyond Fossil Fuels estimates that data centres added €715 million to household electricity bills nationally between 2015 and 2023. That is a substantial cost borne by people already struggling to make ends meet. Judging by his response in the Dáil today, the Taoiseach now appears to dispute that research. If he disputes these findings, he should set out the evidence on which he bases that position.
“Data centres consumed 23 per cent of Ireland’s metered electricity last year. Their demand has consequences for the prices people pay and for our ability to use renewable electricity to cut bills and reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
“International conflict affects energy prices, but it does not absolve this Government of responsibility for decisions taken here. Ministers have choices about how much additional demand they allow onto our electricity system and how the costs are shared.
“The Taoiseach’s references today to the AI Act and Digital Services Act did not answer the questions I asked. Households need an answer on electricity costs, and on what this Government will do to bring them down.
“Labour is calling for a pause on new data centre construction and a levy on existing operators to recover the higher electricity costs imposed on households and businesses.
“This Government must stop treating the cost of data centre expansion as something households simply have to absorb. Unless it changes course, it risks deepening the pressure on people who already cannot pay their bills.”