Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 April 2022
222. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will consider putting in place further measures to improve environmental performance in the SME sector through greater resource efficiency in response to a report (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21265/22]
View answerUnder the Climate Action Plan 2021, the Enterprise sector is tasked with reducing emissions by between 29%-41%.
Enterprise will play a pivotal role in meeting our overall climate change targets. Some of the measures will pose challenges to enterprises, but it is critical to bear in mind that change to net-zero is necessary to safeguard our future. My Department, the SEAI and the Department for the Environment, Climate and Communications have assistance programmes in place to drive the low carbon transition in enterprise.
With regard to the Deputy’s question on environmental management plans, my Department and Minister Ryan’s department launched the Climate Toolkit 4 Business in December 2021. The Toolkit assists businesses in getting started on their low carbon journey last year. It will ‘sign-post’ companies to available state assistance including those from EI, LEOs, SEAI, Irish Water and the EPA. It will simplify and demystify climate action for enterprises.
It includes a simplified carbon calculator that generates an estimated carbon footprint for the business user and also produces a plan of tailored actions recommended in response to the data provided by the user in the carbon calculator. The target audience for the Toolkit is SMEs and micro enterprises that wish to begin their decarbonisation journey – they do not have to be clients of the agencies.
My department has recently been approved for EU funding under Ireland’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan. The proposed programme under the NRRF has two components, the Carbon Reduction Fund and the Climate Enterprise Action Fund:
1. The Climate Enterprise Action Fund includes incentives for the early stages of the carbon transition pathway for clients and potential clients of Enterprise Ireland. The total investment amount is €25m over the period from 2022-2026.
2. The Carbon Reduction Fund will be for the investment in carbon measurement and abatement technologies for manufacturing enterprises (indigenous- and foreign-owned) to support their engagement in green research, development and innovation, capital investment, and capacity building with a focus on abating their high CO2 emissions. The total investment amount is €30m over the period from 2022-2026.
The fund will be launched in Q2 2022 and will be available to clients of the enterprise agencies.
