In a recent article featured on RTE, by Tania Reut.

District heating is the "missing piece of the puzzle" when it comes to energy in Ireland, the CEO of the Irish District Energy Association has said.

Pauline O'Reilly made her comments on RTÉ's Morning Ireland today after the Cabinet advanced the new Heat Bill, paving the way for it to be introduced in the Oireachtas this year.

The bill is designed to enable the rollout of district heating.

Minister for Climate and Energy Darragh O'Brien said research shows that approximately 80% of heat demand in Dublin could be met by district heating by 2050.

District heating uses water-pipe networks to deliver heated water from centralised heat sources to residents and businesses, as opposed to individual boilers or heat pumps.

"It's something that we're not familiar with in Ireland, but actually it is rolled out across Europe, particularly in Scandinavia," the IrDEA and the former Green Party senator said, adding that 90% of Ireland's heating comes from fossil fuels.

"It is more efficient, it is also cleaner because it can come from renewable sources or waste sources".

Using waste water from data centres is one of the proposals.

Ms O'Reilly noted that between 50% and 80% of the electricity in Dublin is being used for data centres.

"What we can do with data centres is use the water that's coming off those data centres to heat buildings and homes," she explained.

She argued there is enough waste hear in Ireland to heat every building in the country.

"At the moment it's just going into the rivers, it's just going into the air. It's not toxic but it's just completely wasteful."

One of Ireland's first district heating schemes was launched in Tallaght in 2023, which was developed by South Dublin County Council and Codema (Dublin's Energy Agency).

It takes waste heat from an Amazon data centre and uses it to heat South Dublin County Council offices and the local library.

Owen Power, CEO of Greenvolt Next Ireland & UK, said waste-heat recovery should be incorporated into the planning of every new data centre, allowing this valuable energy to support surrounding communities rather than being wasted.

"District heating has the potential to reduce fossil-fuel dependence, improve energy efficiency and create resilient, low-carbon energy infrastructure for communities across Ireland," Mr Power added.

Asked whether consumers will be willing to give up their control over how their homes are heated, Ms O'Reilly said the technology behind district heating advanced significantly, giving residents "real flexibility".

"The same way as you have complete control about turning on or off your lights - you're not generating your own electricity, you still have complete control with the electricity coming in."

It will work in the exact same way with district heating, she says.

"You have the same radiators, you have the same pipes, nothing changes except that the hot water is coming from outside your house," she stated.