Editorials

The Irish Times view on the Cabinet row over data centres: parties staking out positions

The current Dáil term has less than a year to run and the Coalition partners will increasingly seek to differentiate themselves as they head towards the polls

Cabinet clash: Simon Coveney and Eamon Ryan - pictured here with public spending minister Paschal Donohoe - have disagreed on the future of data centre policy. Photograph: Alan Betson

Mon Mar 4 2024 - 20:07

The appropriate role of data centres in the Irish economy is a contentious issue both inside and outside of Government. At the last count there were 82 centres, a further 14 were under construction and planning has been approved for 40 more.

Their direct impact in terms of employment and expenditure is buttressed by their less quantifiable role in attracting and embedding inward investment by international technology companies.

That has to be balanced against their environmental impact and the effect their electricity consumption has on Ireland’s efforts to meet its greenhouse gas emission targets. They consume around a fifth of the electricity generated by a system heavily reliant on fossil fuels.

Tensions within the Government over the issue seem to have come to a head. It emerged last weekend that there was a heated disagreement between the Minister for the Environment Eamon Ryan and the Minister for Enterprise Simon Coveney at a Cabinet committee meeting.

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Coveney strongly opposed a proposal by Ryan that the Government should block future data centres that do not have their own carbon-neutral energy source. This would be counter to current policy, although there is a moratorium on further data centres in the Dublin region.

To date the Coalition has managed to project a reasonable semblance of unity. The emergence of details of a private spat remains an unusual occurrence and points to a wider issue than a simple divergence of views on a particular policy.

The current Dáil term has less than a year to run and the Coalition parties will increasingly seek to differentiate themselves as they head towards the polls. Data centres are an opportunity for Fine Gael to burnish its pro-enterprise credentials. They are equally a chance for the Green Party to position itself as holding the line on environmental issues.

As is often the case, the argument may not necessarily be about what the argument appears to be about.

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