The Social Democrats have called for a public register of data centres to track their locations, carbon emissions, energy requirements and water usage.
The party published a bill to set up such a register, saying the proliferation of data centres was concerning.
Jennifer Whitmore, the party’s energy spokesperson, said CSO data showed data centres accounted for 23% of Ireland’s total metered electricity consumption in 2025.
She added that Eirgrid warned that the figure could increase to 30% by 2030.
Ms Whitmore said: “Given the scale of energy and water consumption by data centres, there is a clear public interest in ensuring we have all the facts regarding their operation and environmental impact.
“When it comes to data centres, transparency is important because we know so little about them.
“We are aware they are heavy users of electricity and water, but we’re not sure exactly how much.
“This is despite us seeking this information from the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, the Environmental Protection Agency, Uisce Éireann and even from the Taoiseach.”
Ms Whitmore said data centres should not be given a ‘free rein’
The TD also disputed claims that data centres enable about 875,000 jobs in Ireland, describing it as a “ridiculous suggestion”.
“Essentially, they’re accounting for anybody that opens their laptop and logs on,” she said.
Ms Whitmore said it is known that “households are paying hundreds more in their electricity bills every year because of the pressure that data centres are putting on our energy system”.
“We should not be operating in an information vacuum when Ireland has 10 times the European per capita average of data centres,” she added.
The Social Democrats Data Centre Transparency Bill 2026 seeks to create a publicly accessible centralised register of data centres containing information about their locations, size, carbon emissions, water usage/energy usage, and energy source.
In 2023, an EU directive introduced mandatory public reporting requirements for data centres with a power demand above 500 kW.
Ms Whitmore said that only 18 of the 123 data centres in Ireland have compiled with the directive.
“Data centres are completely ignoring that requirement and that’s why it’s really important that we have domestic legislation that gives the Government some control over what data centres are required to do,” the Wicklow TD said.
She also said that data centres see the Government as a “soft touch” and that data centres should not be given a “free rein”.
It claimed that since 2010, €22 billion had been added to the Irish economy, an additional 17,000 jobs have been created and €2.8 billion in tax has been collected because of data centres.
Additional reporting: PA