Fifteen data centres around the State have been waiting for up to three years for decisions on getting connected to the national gas grid, writes Hugh Dooley. That comes as senior industry executive Peter Lantry warns a number of Irish retail data centres are nearing maximum capacity or “going dark”.
Sticking with energy, Ciara O’Brien writes that electric vehicle charging company EasyGo and the Department of Transport are rolling out a pilot programme that will see homeowners paid to share off-street car chargers with neighbours and members of the public.
Eoin Burke-Kennedy has winkled out figures that show Ireland is the second-largest destination worldwide for exports from Israel. The 2024 figures from UN data, broadly by the Central Statstics Office, provide, he writes, a curious counterpoint to the frayed diplomatic relations between Dublin and Tel Aviv.
From one controversy to another – the never-ending will it/won’t it argument about Dublin’s Metrolink project. Danish engineering group Ramboll, which is already working with Dublin Airport and on an EV infrastructure consultancy project for Government, says it would be interested in bidding for work on any Dublin metro project. Barry O’Halloran reports.
The world of work is increasingly competitive but even by that standard, reports that as many as 57 per cent of US workers made redundant in the past two years received the news by email or phone comes as a surprise. Pilita Clark considers it brutal and unacceptable.
A scheme allowing private citizens to invest some of the €143 billion they hold on deposit in banks into housing development through a State-backed investment vehicle should be considered by Government, the incoming president of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland says, adding the current level of public investment in housing is “unsustainable”.
Separately, a report from recruiter Excel, says Ireland is making a mistake in dragging short-term and seasonal workers into the State’s pension auto-enrolment programme. It says changes are needed to make the scheme more user friendly.
Finally, an Opinion piece by Dan Pender looks at the challenge between those driving advances in artificial intelligence and those charged with regulating the technology.
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