Jennifer Whitmore
Question:184. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Taoiseach if all Departments have established a climate action unit; and if all units are currently operational. [4317/22]
View answerTuesday, 1 February 2022
Questions (184)
Written answers
The Interim Climate Actions 2021 committed to “Establish an appropriately resourced Climate Action Unit in every Government Department to ensure Climate considerations are at the core of policy development” (Action 22).
The latest progress report on the Interim Climate Actions, covering the period up to the end of September 2021confirmed that 16 of 18 (89%) Government Departments had established Climate Action Units. These units vary in structure and size according to the individual needs of Departments.
Details of each Departmental Unit can be found in the Q2 2021 and Q3 2021 Progress Reports under the Interim Climate Actions (available at www.gov.ie/en/publication/55fde-climate-action-important-publications/).
The final two outstanding Departments (The Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science and the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth) demonstrated good progress on establishing their Climate Action Units in 2021 and this was highlighted in the Q3 2021 Interim Actions Progress Report.
The Climate Action Plan 2021 re-commits to this action to ensure remaining Departments establish their Climate Action Units (Action 62). An update will be sought from these Departments on their progress for the upcoming combined Q4 2021 and Q1 2022 Climate Action Plan 2021 Progress Report.
To further the effectiveness of Climate Action Units, the Climate Action Plan 2021 includes an action to establish a Climate Action Unit Network across Departments in Q1 2022.
A work programme for the network will also be established in Q1 2022, with the intention of hosting training and information events within the network to facilitate collaboration and peer learning across all Units.