September 28, 2026 View all news Councillors should choose the welfare of communities over big tech in land zoning vote this Monday in Naas Over 54 hectares of land in Jigginstown Co Naas, which is currently zoned exclusively for data centres (1) and set to be developed by Microsoft (2), is today (28 September 2026) under scrutiny by Friends of the Earth Ireland. The environmental and social justice organisation is pressing Councilors to put their constituents first and support a zoning review scheduled to be proposed and debated on Monday 28th in Kildare County Council. With significantly more land already zoned for data centres in Naas than for potential residential use, the Jigginstown site represents the second large parcel in the town earmarked solely for tech infrastructure. Rosi Leonard, Data Centre Campaign Lead at Friends of the Earth Ireland commented: Communities have very little to gain by hyperscale data centres moving in next door, and we support the residents in Naas who have pushed for this land zoning to be reviewed. What we have seen across Ireland is big data centres bringing with them huge fossil gas build out, significant water use especially during hot weather, constraints on the grid and very, very few jobs. Given 23% of electricity in Ireland already goes to data centres, it’s not clear why more capacity is needed and who will benefit other than the big tech companies.The vote in Naas comes months after Kildare County Council approved planning on a separate site for a hyperscale data centre operated by Herbata (3). This approval is currently being appealed by environmental organisations including Friends of the Earth Ireland, on the basis of how extreme its energy use will be and its impact on Ireland's carbon emissions. If built, Herbata’s data centre would emit at least 1.6 million tonnes of CO2eq per year, soaking up over 40% worth of the sectoral emissions ceiling permitted for the electricity sector in the second carbon budget. It is so large that it would triple the total electricity demand of Kildare.(4)Leonard continued: It’s encouraging to see councillors in Naas debate the impacts of big data centre build-out on their communities, and we urge them to vote in favour of the review. We know data centres are driving up energy prices (5), we know the way they are being built makes them major polluters, we know they are hoovering up capacity on a creaking grid. Ultimately, we need the Government at a national level to step up and enact a moratorium on more data centres so we can build a clean and resilient grid for public good, guarantee energy security and bring down bills.Microsoft is set to operate any data centre built on the site in Naas which is currently at the heart of the zoning debate. Friends of the Earth Ireland has raised concerns about Microsoft’s significant gas build out at their facilities in Clondalkin, and earlier this year, a U.N. Special Rapporteur on the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, was denied access to Microsoft facilities during a visit to Ireland.(6) Enabled Emissions, an organisation founded by ex-Microsoft workers (7) has also raised the alarm about deals that Microsoft currently has with Exxon to increase oil and gas drilling by providing AI products to the oil giants.(8)Notes:P2 landbank https://kildarecoco.ie/AllServices/Planning/LocalAreaPlans/CurrentLocalAreaPlans/NaasLocalAreaPlan2021-2027/Map%2011.1%20Land%20Use%20Zoning%20(Dec%202021).pdfhttps://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/microsoft-plans-data-center-campus-in-naas-ireland/https://www.irishtimes.com/business/2025/08/21/planners-back-3bn-herbata-data-centre/https://www.friendsoftheearth.ie/news/campaigners-appeal-herbata-data-centre-decision-in-naas/https://www.friendsoftheearth.ie/news/the-cost-of-data-centre-growth-in-ireland-households-paid-an-estimated-715-million-more-in-electrici/https://www.friendsoftheearth.ie/news/microsoft-denies-the-un-special-rapporteur-access-to-their-d/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/aug/11/ai-will-do-more-to-boost-fossil-fuel-production-than-green-energyhttps://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/digital-threats/enabled-emissions-how-ai-helps-to-supercharge-oil-and-gas-production/ Categorised in: Friends of the Earth Climate Change Energy Educational Resources Policy Resources Tagged with: Data Centres Energy Fossil Free