While the national climate change strategy identifies the maximisation of renewable energy capacity as an essential step towards meeting our greenhouse gas emissions limitation target under the Kyoto Protocol, it would not be appropriate for building regulations to prescribe specific systems for public buildings or to promote one type of renewable energy over others.
I understand Sustainable Energy Ireland Limited, SEI, is supporting a number of programmes in geothermal heating. SEI comes under the remit of the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources.