Sinn Féin has blamed data centres for the rising costs of electricity in Ireland.

Lynn Boylan, the party's MEP for Dublin, highlighted the country's electricity price crisis following the publication of findings of the data centre report commissioned by Friends of the Earth and completed by Professor Hannah Daly.

Boylan believes these data centres are pushing up prices and leaving households to foot the bill.

She said: "I welcome the critical report by Professor Hannah Daly, which exposes the damaging impact data centres are having on Ireland’s electricity system.

"These massive energy consumers now account for over 21% of our electricity demand, depleting resources that should be helping to lower costs for households.

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"Instead, their insatiable appetite for power forces us to rely more on expensive fossil fuels, keeping electricity prices among the highest in Europe. As a result, more than half a million energy customers are in debt to energy companies."

The Dublin MEP also stated that government supports intended for struggling households are being undermined by data centres, referencing the electricity rebate which was designed to ease pressure on families, stating it "has been wiped out by rising Public Service Obligation (PSO) and network charges – costs driven in part by data centre growth."

She continued: "These increased charges effectively act as subsidies for data centres, forcing ordinary people to pay for the profits of multinationals.

"If we are serious about reducing electricity costs, we need to tackle the unchecked growth of data centres. This means stricter regulations, removing tax advantages, and ensuring they contribute to renewable energy expansion rather than competing for scarce resources.

"Unfortunately, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have consistently prioritised multinational interests over those of Irish families. Instead of addressing the problem, they seem determined to worsen it."