Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 April 2022
203. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the special measures his Department is taking to reduce energy usage in the scenario in which members of the public are being asked to do the same. [20293/22]
View answerPublic bodies are required to report annual energy efficiency data to the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) who manages the reporting process on behalf of the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC). As part of this process, my Department has delivered 63% in energy efficiency reductions, the second highest level of all Government Departments, since the public sector energy performance programme commenced over a decade ago. The SEAI publishes these results annually.
My Department has an active internal cross-Departmental “Green Team” with over 30 staff across the Department and its Offices, which include the Companies Registration Office, the Office of Director of Corporate Enforcement, the Intellectual Property Office of Ireland, the Labour Court and the Workplace Relations Commission.
In terms of the internal day-to-day Departmental operations, it is through this “Green Team”, with functional responsibility at Principal Officer level, that the Department acts to promote and encourage climate action awareness to all staff under the four pillars of energy reduction, water conservation, waste management and ecology, across the eleven buildings occupied by staff of my Department.
Specifically on energy saving initiatives, my Department has implemented a host of initiatives over the recent past to deliver significant energy savings, amongst which include the following:
- Installation of LED lighting and the introduction of motion sensors in many rooms in several buildings so as to reduce electricity usage;
- The installation of new energy efficiency boiler heating system in 2021;
- A reduction in the number of personal printers and the introduction of eco-friendly “all in one” photocopiers and printers;
- A 75% reduction in the number of electrically powered water coolers across a number of buildings and replacement of same with filtered water systems.
- Purchase of more eco-friendly ICT equipment and time adjustments to ICT power down of systems;
- Reduced temperature settings for heating systems, where possible, across of our buildings;
- Numerous awareness webinars; information sessions and training for staff regarding energy efficiency and wider climate action related issues, including a dedicated Departmental “Green Month” each year over the past three years.
In parallel with the energy saving sphere the Department has looked to create awareness and build on its own sustainability options, through logging water usage, annual distribution of seeds to staff country-wide to enhance biodiversity and also our recent installation of beehives on the roof of our Kildare Street building.
Whilst the Department has made excellent progress in delivering very significant energy savings over recent years, it is recognised that given the ambition of the Government’s Climate Action Strategy and the energy related consequences arising from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we continually need to focus on further energy saving initiatives.
In that context the Department is currently working closely with the Office of Public Works on the feasibility of installing solar panels on the roof of our building at 23 Kildare Street, the aim of which is to ultimately make the building energy self-sufficient and sustainable.
In addition, we continue to actively engage directly with, and receive welcome advice from, the DECC and the SEAI in relation to the development of a Departmental Climate Action Mandate for completion later in 2022. As part of this process we are exploring what new energy initiatives, over and above those already implemented, could feasibly be initiated over the period ahead.
