The Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment paid almost €105,000 (ex VAT) to KPMG for a study the consultancy recently completed on the value of the data centre sector here.
In new figures provided by the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment Peter Burke has confirmed that the Department pay to KMPG for ‘The Value of Data Centres to Ireland’ report was €104,938.
In a written Dáil reply to Deputy Aidan Farrelly, Minister Burke said that the contract for the work was awarded last year to KPMG after tenders were evaluated under a Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT) process.
He said that in April 2025, KPMG was paid €24,985 on commissioning of the contract, a further €34,978 on presentation of interim research and findings in October 2025; €5,000 for a company survey and €39,975 on the completion of the contract.
The 181-page report published on 2 June demonstrated that data centres are a critical component of Ireland’s digital infrastructure, supporting economic activity, employment and investment across the wider economy.
The report also found that data centres underpin much of Ireland’s broader economic activity with over €100 billion in annual Gross Value Added (GVA), 875,000 jobs, and €14.6 billion in annual employment-related taxes anchored by data centres in Ireland across the sectors identified as being most dependent on their activity.
The publication of the KPMG report coincided with the findings of a separate UN report which served to underline the divergent views on the data centre sector in Ireland.
In the UN report, Ireland was cited as a “cautionary” tale on the environmental impact of runaway artificial intelligence growth.
The report highlighted the heavy demand data centres place on Ireland’s energy systems, with 21% of all electricity here used for data processing.
A third report concerning data centres this month found that an estimated cumulative average of €360 has been added to household electricity bills over recent years due to high data energy demand.
The research, commissioned by environmental groups Friends of the Earth Ireland and Beyond Fossil Fuels, also maintained the cost on households could “intensify dramatically” over the coming years.
Reporting by Gordon Deegan
