Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 April 2022
1901. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine 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. [20290/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department is committed to embedding energy efficiency into the culture of the organisation and continually progresses energy management initiatives across its locations. It issues a quarterly Environmental/Sustainability Newsletters to all staff, has provided an awareness poster of Fuel Saving Tips to the Departments van drivers and is an active participant in the Office of Public Works (OPW) Optimising Power @ Work campaigns.
In order to drive sustainable practices on a local basis, my Department has also established a network of Green Teams throughout its own nationwide network of offices. The Green Teams consists of volunteer representatives at all grades who serve as green champions throughout the various locations. The Green Team's goals are to raise awareness and implement practices locally which reduce my Department’s energy and environmental footprint and support biodiversity projects.
In addition, my Department is actively participating in the Public Sector Energy Reporting Programme reporting all of its energy consumption through the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland's (SEAI) Monitoring and Reporting online system. Since 2009, energy efficiency has improved by almost 34.1% in the Department, avoiding consumption of 22.4M kWh of energy. This has been achieved mainly by low-cost measures such as behavioural changes, better energy management, and lighting retrofits. In order to achieve continuous energy efficiency, additional works will be required throughout the Department to reach its 2030 and 2050 targets.
