By Bairbre Holmes, Press AssociationThe Government has announced a new plan to address barriers affecting data centres, particularly around energy use. Leap aims to attract investment in “energy-intensive sectors” including semiconductors, pharmaceuticals and data centres to Ireland. Data centres only employ around 21,000 people in Ireland, while consuming 22 per cent of the country’s metered electricity. Under this policy new data centres connecting to the grid must provide their own power, rather than relying solely on the national grid. And 80 per cent of it must come from new renewable energy projects in Ireland and will feed back into the national grid.

Source: The Herald January 13, 2026 16:12 UTC