233. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment if his Department will conduct a cost benefit analysis of the value to the economy of operational roles related to data centres (estimated by his Department as 7,636 additional operational jobs from 2010 to 2024) against the increased energy costs associated with the operation of data centres. [67220/26]

My Department recently published the independent report, The Value of Data Centres to Ireland, prepared by KPMG.

The report was commissioned to address a knowledge gap regarding the economic contribution of data centres to Ireland, including their impact on employment, Gross Value Added (GVA), tax revenues and wider economic activity. It found that data centres supported an additional 7,636 operational jobs between 2010 and 2024 and made a significant contribution to economic activity during that period.

The Terms of Reference for the study were to:

• determine the economic impacts and wider societal benefits arising from existing and planned data centres in Ireland up to 2030; and

• explore options for the evolution of the data-centre landscape beyond 2030 with a view to optimising future economic and societal benefits.

While the report was required to consider trade-offs and opportunity costs associated with future data-centre development, it was not commissioned as a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis comparing the economic benefits of data centres with electricity costs.

Nevertheless, the report examines a range of issues relevant to these questions, including energy demand, grid constraints, energy security, carbon impacts, infrastructure requirements and alternative post-2030 development scenarios.

In doing so, it identifies a number of policy trade-offs associated with different approaches to future development of the sector and considers the potential implications for economic activity, competitiveness and foreign direct investment.

As I have outlined, the report was not commissioned as a cost-benefit analysis of the type referred to by the Deputy and there are currently no plans to commission a separate study of that nature.