Ireland loses out as Amazon’s €35bn data-centre investment goes elsewhere (France, Germany, Spain, UK)

https://www.independent.ie/business/ireland-loses-out-as-amazons-35bn-data-centre-investment-goes-elsewhere/a1264077681.html

by IllustriousLynx8099

24 comments

  1. Article text;

    > Ireland has secured none of a more than €35bn wave of investment in Europe by Amazon Web Services (AWS), one of the world’s biggest providers of cloud commuting services, raising serious question marks over the country’s status as a hub for foreign direct investment.

    > Last week AWS said it plans to invest £8bn (€9.47bn) in the UK over the next five years on building, operating, and maintaining data centres.

    > The new British Labour government has been quick to welcome the move and has asserted its support for the data centre sector, which is increasingly controversial here.

    > Data centres in the UK are to be classified as critical national infrastructure alongside the likes of emergency services, finance and healthcare systems, and energy and water supplies, putting them in line for government support in the event of a major incident, such as a cyber attack or extreme weather.

    > UK Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said the decision reflected their status as “the engines of modern life”.
    AWS said its new round of UK investment will support an average of more than 14,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs on an annual basis at local UK businesses.

    > These positions all form part of the AWS data centre supply chain, ranging from construction, facility maintenance, engineering, telecommunications, and other jobs within the broader local economy.

    > AWS has massively ramped up investment in data centre infrastructure across Europe since the start of this summer, in anticipation of a long-term increase in demand for cloud services as a result of the roll-out of generative artificial intelligence, data hungry processes that are rapidly being adopted by industries of all kinds.

  2. Ireland losing it’s tax advantage will prove to be a rude awakening for the Irish economy. I hope they have a backup plan other than being a tax shelter for American multinational companies.

  3. Makes sense. It would be reckless to place such vital infrastructure in a country with virtually no defensive capabilities.

    EDIT: Not sure why y’all are acting like this proverbial putting all eggs into one basket— and a pretty shabby one at that— isn’t an issue. For example, see:

    * [Ireland’s neutrality does not stop it from being eyed as a cyber target](https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/spotlight/arid-41470924.html)
    * [Ireland must recruit tech workers to counter Russia cyber threat](https://www.thetimes.com/world/ireland-world/article/ireland-must-recruit-tech-workers-to-counter-russia-cyber-threat-z9mwgptsq)
    * [Ireland Is Europe’s Weakest Link](https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/11/08/ireland-military-neutrality-russia-ocean-communication-energy-infrastructure-sabotage/)
    * [Russia, China and Iran could target UK via Irish ‘backdoor’, thinktank warns](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/feb/04/russia-china-iran-could-target-uk-irish-backdoor-thinktank-warns)
    * [Ireland more exposed to espionage due to high number of data centres, defence review finds](https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/ireland-more-exposed-to-espionage-due-to-high-number-of-data-centres-defence-review-finds/a940907702.html)
    * [Nato commander worries about Ireland’s defence due to Russian threat](https://www.thetimes.com/world/ireland-world/article/nato-commander-worries-about-irelands-defence-due-to-russian-threat-hdmx60brb)

  5. No one going to complain about the imaginary scenario where Ireland is hoovering up all the FDI because it doesn’t charge any taxes then? No? Weird how Ireland’s tax regime is not actually the issue isn’t it?

  6. Data-centre “investment” lol. They barely employ anyone and draw a shit ton of electricity. Nah no thanks.

  8. very good news. I was tired of my US employer having a huge irish office and almost nothing in france. this tax optimisation was very unfair

  9. With the disaster that Ireland caused apple ( making tax promises it can’t keep) I am sure the country is dead for new American tech investment.

    It’s one thing to knowingly pay a higher tax rate, it’s another thing completely to have a 13 billion dollar tax bill show up at your doorstep one day.

  10. we have enough data centers in Ireland something like 20 or 25% of our grid goes towards them

  11. This is not losing out, datacenters are a waste of space and energy for countries of that size. Here in the Netherlands it has cause some ridiculousness. Microsoft data center, they made the biggest windpark in North north holland with 100 windmills and almost all energy goes to the datacenter…

  13. Great news. They are on a drain on energy and water resources. 

  14. For that kind of money you could seriously talk about building a nuclear plant to support it.

  18. Because no more tax free in Ireland, as Apple found out recently….

  19. The amount of people complaining adout data centers being built is sad, no wonder Europe is so behind in tech

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