Amazon has been active in Ireland for more than 20 years, investing over €22 billion in its operations, employing thousands of workers and supporting small and medium-sized enterprises. However, the company’s influence goes beyond economic statistics and extends to local communities from Dublin to Galway and everywhere in between. Two recent social impact projects, one in energy and one in education, show how much the private sector can accomplish for citizens when it teams up with nonprofits.

Hotter water, cooler planet

As a key employer in Ireland, Amazon has a role to play in supporting the country’s Climate Action Plan, which calls for cutting emissions and creating a cleaner, greener economy with a 51% reduction in overall greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. To this end, the company has an ongoing partnership with EnergyCloud Ireland, a nonprofit organisation dedicated to ending energy poverty.

Their most recent collaboration will provide 500 families across Fingal in eastern Ireland with free tanks of hot water via an EnergyCloud-enabled smart device. The device uses surplus renewable energy, which would otherwise be wasted, to heat immersion tanks, helping residents save on their energy bills while reducing carbon emissions.

Of the project’s impact, Niamh Gallagher, Country Lead for Ireland, Amazon Web Services (AWS), reflected:

‘This collaboration with EnergyCloud Ireland highlights our continued commitment to the local communities where we operate. EnergyCloud’s innovative device is prompting new conversations at local and national levels about how best to use Ireland’s excess renewable energy and maximise social impact in the process.’

New technology, new curriculum

Amazon’s support extends from homes into schools through its partnership with the Enabling Digital Technology in Primary School (EDTips) programme, which trains teachers to use digital technology in the classroom, regardless of technical infrastructure. These trainings focus on age-appropriate and interactive educational tools that help students become confident, creative and critical users of digital technology.

In 2025, Amazon donated and delivered a free digital technology kit to every primary school across Ireland to help teachers integrate a 21st-century technology curriculum in their classrooms. These kits included a Tangible coding set (a gaming system that focuses on developing computational thinking, sequencing and coding fundamentals) and a BBC micro:bit (a programmable device that gives hands-on experience with coding). With these tools, students can get more out of their technology lessons, regardless of their schools’ locations or technology equipment.

According to Joanne Reynolds, Community Engagement Manager, Amazon Ireland, the project dovetails with the company’s values:

‘We are delighted to support Technological University Dublin’s EDTips programme, which will provide a digital learning kit for teachers to every primary school in Ireland. At Amazon, we recognise the importance of equipping teachers with the tools they need to deliver the new science, technology, engineering and mathematics curriculum effectively. These teacher kits represent our commitment to fostering digital literacy and supporting educators across Ireland as they prepare the next generation for a technology-driven future.’

The 2023 AWS Impact in Ireland report shows that the company has increased economic output in Ireland by over €11.4 billion since 2012. However, that number tells only a sliver of the story: the rest can be found in the workplace, at home and in classrooms across the country.