Social Democrats' environment spokesperson, Jennifer Whitmore, has warned that government plans to remove the restriction on new data centres in Dublin would place unsustainable pressure on the national electricity system and hinder climate ambitions.

Deputy Whitmore said: "I have major concerns with plans which went to cabinet this morning which seek to lift the ban on the development of data centres in Dublin, which speak of “sustainable” data centre development and co-locating data centres with renewable energy resources.

"The production of renewable energy sources should be prioritised for residents and small businesses – approving new data centres only means that we continue to chase our tail in terms of climate goals and energy demand.

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"Any strategy on data centres needs to set out the energy usage by data centres that we can afford from a climate, energy security, and pricing perspective, which these rules fail to establish.

"Elements of these rules are clear examples of greenwashing – there might be an 80% renewable requirement, but developers can still rely on on-site fossil fuel backup which could lead to locking in carbon-heavy infrastructure.

"There was a report this weekend that major transport projects are at risk of delay due to the huge demand already being placed on the energy grid – removing this ban will only worsen these delays.

"We have had other warnings from senior officials in government that the country faces a choice between housing development or data centre development – there’s only one answer when it comes to which of these is needed more.

"Data centres are already on course to consume 30% or more of our electricity by 2030 – far above the the proportion of average use in other EU countries

"The government must get its priorities right when it comes to our national energy grid."

Whitmore argued the proposals risk diverting renewable generation away from households and small businesses, and warned of knock-on effects for housing delivery and major transport projects if data centre demand continues to rise.