Friends of the Earth Ireland calls for immediate pause on new data centre developments following revelations Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employed removed key findings on report

Revelations that the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment removed key findings from its report on data centres have fatally undermined the Government's case for continued expansion of the sector and highlights the need for an immediate moratorium on new developments, Friends of the Earth Ireland said today.

Details obtained by Lynn Boylan MEP, and published by The Journal.ie, reveal that significant findings were omitted from the Government-commissioned report The Value of Data Centres to Ireland. Friends of the Earth Ireland says the omission raises serious questions about the integrity of the evidence underpinning Government policy, and demonstrate why Ireland urgently needs an independent, transparent and scientifically robust assessment of the full costs and benefits of data centre expansion.

According to the published documents, removed material includes analysis of the opportunity cost of prioritising data centres over housing, recommendations for mandatory sustainability targets on water and energy use, concerns about the growth of "non-critical" data centres, and land-use implications.

Friends of the Earth Ireland is now calling for an immediate temporary moratorium on all new data centre developments until a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis is completed, examining the impacts on climate targets, energy security, electricity prices, water resources, infrastructure and competing land uses.

Rosi Leonard, Data Centre Campaigner with Friends of the Earth Ireland, said: "The deliberate suppression of evidence about the risks and costs of data centres represents a serious breach of public trust. It means the Government's justification for continued expansion of this industry is based on incomplete and selectively presented evidence.

"If Ministers cannot produce independent, evidence-based research on the real impacts of data centres, they cannot credibly continue approving new developments. The only responsible course of action is to pause further expansion until a full and impartial assessment has been carried out."

The revelations follow independent research by Dr Séan Fearon and published by Friends of the Earth Ireland and Beyond Fossil Fuels showing that the rapid growth of data centres has added an estimated €715 million to Irish household electricity bills over the past decade. Without intervention, the report projects that the sector could add a further €1.6 billion to electricity bills during the next decade.

The research also concluded that even under the most ambitious renewable energy scenarios, the pace of data centre demand would continue to drive higher electricity costs because demand is increasing faster than renewable generation can offset it.

Leonard said the latest revelations reinforced concerns that the Government is failing to confront the true costs of its current policy.

"For months Ministers have avoided answering straightforward questions about what data centres are costing Irish households, what they mean for our climate commitments and what pressure they place on our electricity system.

"More than 500,000 households are already struggling with energy bill arrears. At the same time, taxpayers are being asked to fund major new gas infrastructure in the name of energy security while demand from data centres continues to grow unchecked.

"We now know the Government's own evidence was not simply incomplete — crucial findings were deliberately left out. That makes the case for an immediate pause on new developments overwhelming."

The call follows a warning from the Climate Change Advisory Council that growing electricity demand from data centres risks "cannibalising any increase in Irish renewable capacity", leading to greater fossil fuel use and making Ireland's legally binding climate targets significantly harder to achieve.