Report criticises Ireland's 'struggle to implement necessary systems' to collate data centre information

Across the bloc, only Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain had more data centres than Ireland, according to the EU report. File picture: Denis Minihane

Ireland has come in for criticism in a new European report on the sustainability of data centres, as it “struggled to implement the necessary systems” to capture data on them effectively.

The European Union’s report on the energy performance and sustainability of data centres across the bloc saw data being supplied by 15% of the estimated 123 data centres operating here.

Across the bloc, only Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain had more data centres than Ireland, according to the report.

As per EU legislation, countries must gather data on a range of metrics on the data centres in their jurisdiction. This includes information on energy consumption, waste heat utilisation, water usage, and the use of renewable energy.

It is supposed to be the first step in regulating data centres as it aims to provide a basis for establishing ratings systems and minimum performance standards.

The report said no country was able to supply full information regarding the number of data centres operating in their borders, with Ireland below the average response rate of 36%.

Sinn Féin MEP Lynn Boylan, who has submitted several questions to the European Commission around the mechanism for reporting on data centres, was critical of Ireland’s performance highlighted in the report.

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“It’s outrageous that Ireland, with the highest concentration of data centres in Europe, has failed so badly at even the basic reporting stage,” she said.

“It’s essential that public authorities have a clear picture to get a handle on unbridled data centres. Instead of standing up to data centres, the government is deploying the same light touch approach that got our energy system into the mess it’s in.” 

She added it was firmly in the public interest that the Government shares information transparently on the number of data centres operating, how much energy and water they are using, and what share of the energy they use is renewable.

Despite guzzling an ever-greater share of Ireland’s energy consumption and emissions concerns, the Government has signalled its desire to press ahead with data centre development into the future.

A spokesperson for the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment said it "welcomes this first report".

"We are engaging with the data centre sector and the European Commission in this area, including on improvements to the reporting process. This reporting and information gathered – on energy performance; renewables energy use; waste heat use; etc – provides a data-driven framework for the data centre sector to promote sustainable development, and also to drive efficiency and encourage best practices.

"The report acknowledged that there have been significant challenges affecting data completeness and quality across EU Member States in compiling the report. The report’s several recommendations will improve the reporting scheme. The report acknowledges that no Member State was able to supply full information. It is expected that the second technical report, which is due in October, would provide a more detailed picture including on the performance of the sector in Ireland."