Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 7 November 2023
395. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment whether the Government statement on the role of data centres in Ireland's enterprise strategy was screened for a strategic environment assessment. [47847/23]
View answerMy Department led on the publication of the original 'Government Statement on the Role of Data Centres in Ireland's Enterprise Strategy' in summer 2018. A revised version of this Statement was developed and published in July of 2022, with collaboration on both documents from the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, as well as the relevant State Agencies.
Neither Statement had a formal Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) screening process, as they would not be considered a 'plan or programme' within the meaning of the advice of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provided for in the 'Synthesis Report Development of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Methodologies for Plans and Programmes in Ireland'. The 'Government Statement on the Role of Data Centres in Ireland's Enterprise Strategy' is not a programme or plan required by legislative, regulatory or administrative provisions. Nor is the Statement a development plan, a variation of a development plan, a local area plan (or an amendment thereto), regional planning guidelines or a planning scheme.
The Government Statement outlines policy priorities including digitalisation, climate action and energy policy, provided for in national policy documents, assessing and outlining their interaction with regard to data centre development in particular. The Statement relates therefore to the interaction between policies, and not directly to development or planning.
The environmental impacts of data centre developments are assessed, as appropriate, through our planning system, governance of the electricity system, environmental licensing regulation where relevant, and the statutory environmental assessments required on the national, regional, local and site specific development plans that inform them.
