Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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656. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the number of number of times the energy kits have been taken out on loan in each library in 2023; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7869/24]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The provision of energy saving kits in public libraries was first introduced as a pilot scheme across 10 Dublin libraries in early 2016, with the objective of assisting householders to better understand their energy use and reduce their energy bills. The pilot scheme was subsequently expanded to all library authorities. Devices available in the energy saving kit focus on three key areas of energy use in the home, namely, space heating, hot water and electricity consumption. The devices can identify common issues in homes such as lack of insulation, poor ventilation and the appliances that might be driving up electricity bills.

The new National Public Library Strategy 2023-2027: The Library is the Place,which I launched in July 2023, contains 66 strategic actions, including a commitment that all libraries will offer users access to resources to support home energy saving awareness and assessment. My Department will monitor progress in relation to this matter over the lifetime of the strategy.

Details of the number of energy kits offered by each local authority and the number of times these were loaned are outlined in the table below, which has been extracted from the Library Management System (LMS). Further details of energy kits loaned in specific library branches are available in the attached excel sheet.