Data centres are 'supercharging' Irish businesses, Oireachtas AI committee to hear

Irish Data Centre Supplier Alliance chairman Tom Parlon will reference Irish companies such as H&MV Engineering, Mercury Engineering, and Sisk which build data centre infrastructure as regional success stories. Picture: iStock

TDs and senators are to be told that the continued expansion of data centres is a byproduct of a successful foreign direct investment model and not inherently negative despite environmental concerns.

Tom Parlon, the chair of the Irish Data Centre Supplier Alliance, is due to go before the Oireachtas committee on artificial intelligence alongside co-director Lorcan Allen on Tuesday morning.

Mr Parlon will tell the committee that data centres “supercharge the growth and expansion” in a new generation of Irish supply-side business. He will reference Irish companies such as H&MV Engineering, Mercury Engineering, and Sisk which build data centre infrastructure as regional success stories.

 “Whether we like it or not, the world is going to need more data centres in the future to facilitate the AI (artificial intelligence) revolution that’s already underway,” Mr Parlon will tell the committee. 

“And Irish supply chain companies have positioned themselves as world leaders in this space because they got a head start from the data centre industry that has developed here over the past decade.

“We should embrace this opportunity as a country given the jobs and economic benefits.”

Mr Parlon, a former Progressive Democrats TD and director general of the Construction Industry Federation, will tell the committee he is opposed to “unlimited growth in data centre expansion”.

Data centres have become an increasingly politicised issue, and their strain on Ireland’s national energy grid has raised concern about the sector’s long-term viability and ability to expand.

Data centres used around 23% of Ireland’s metered electricity in 2025.

Due to struggles in bringing more electricity into data centres, some centres have used gas as a stopgap, which has also encountered supply issues.

In June, the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities led proposals to insulate gas usage in Ireland, suggesting data centres would pay lower tariffs on their gas network connection. In exchange, data centres would agree to planned interruptions in gas supply at times of extremely high demand.

Data centres are required to source 80% of their energy from renewable energy in the next six years.

Mr Parlon will compare the electricity demand of data centres to other flagship heavy industries in Europe such as the automobile sector in Germany.

“High electricity demand from data centres is just a byproduct of our successful economic FDI model. It’s not something we should immediately see as a negative,” Mr Parlon will say.

“The real question we should be asking ourselves is what are we going to do with all of the offshore wind energy that this country has the capacity to develop?

“I want to reiterate how critical it is for Ireland to have a functioning data centre sector, that allows for sustainable development of new projects. The AI revolution is here and data centres are the infrastructure that enables this new technology — a technology that we are all using more and more in our everyday lives and workplaces.”

Mr Parlon will speak at the committee before David J Hickton, a cyber law expert at the University of Pittsburgh.