Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 23 June 2022
225. Deputy James Browne asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage further to Parliamentary Question No. 44 of 15 June, if he will detail the division of the grant funding to Wexford County Council (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33418/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraWexford County Council along with Waterford Wexford Educational Training Board (WWETB), has formed a High Performance Building Alliance (HPBA) entity which is part of a UNECE network of Centres of Excellence in High Performing Buildings. The Network includes centres of excellence in New York, Washington, Canada, Bulgaria and Scotland.
The centre will collect best practices, research, support, and/or offer training in the field of sustainable energy in housing, sustainable smart cities, and urban development.
To date WWETB have trained over 1,500 workers in NZEB skills in the UNECE Centre of Excellence.
UNECE are now establishing a UNECE Secretariat for the Global Network of High Performance Building Initiative (HPBI) to support the International Network of UNECE International Centres of Excellence in High Performing Buildings.
It is planned that the UNECE HPBI Secretariat will be established through the HPBA, based in Enniscorthy, Wexford.
My Department will provide total funding of €180,000 per year over 3 years to support the HPBA and the UNECE Secretariat function, on the basis of €100,000 per year and €80,000 per year respectively. Funding will be allocated to Wexford County Council shortly who will manage the allocation of funds to the HPBA and UNECE Secretariat through a service level agreement.
