Mr. Mark Griffin:

I am here today to discuss the 2019 audited Appropriation Account for Vote 29, the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment. As the committee will be aware, the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, our new guise, was established following the reconfiguration of a number of Departments by the Government last June and a transfer of functions order was made in September 2020 formally assigning the broadcasting and media functions to the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. This transfer will impact on the 2020 Appropriation Account but has no impact on the 2019 Appropriation Account, which is under examination today.

As requested by the committee, I have provided some advance briefing for the meeting and so I propose to keep my opening statement short.

Total gross expenditure under the Vote in 2019 amounted to €587 million, some 14% or €93 million below the budgetary allocation of €680 million, including capital carryover. The underspend is primarily due to the contract for the national broadband plan not being signed until late 2019 and projects under the climate action fund not proceeding to delivery during 2019.

My Department has a key policy development and co-ordination role in Ireland’s transition to a low carbon, climate resilient economy. The climate action plan, designed to reduce emissions by 30% by 2030, was published in June 2019 with implementation of a wide range of actions across 13 Departments and 40 agencies. The first progress report, published in October 2019, showed an 85% completion rate for measures due by the end of quarter 3 of that year.

Using less energy and using it more efficiently is one of the most cost effective ways to take action on climate change. The Department invested a total of some €185 million under its energy programme in 2019, an increase of almost €10 million over what was originally allocated to this programme. Of this, capital expenditure of €104 million supported energy efficiency measures in more than 24,700 homes and 475 public, private and commercial buildings, while also supporting around 4,500 jobs throughout the country.

Measures aimed at decarbonising electricity generation and promoting the electrification of heat and transport were progressed. Work on the development of a new renewable electricity support scheme continued throughout 2019 and the second phase of the support scheme for renewable heat opened in June that year. Some 4,700 electric vehicles were grant aided in 2019 and by the end of 2019 over 15,500 electric vehicles were under taxation in Ireland. This upward trend has continued in 2020, notwithstanding the overall reduction in new car sales last year. Spend on the electric vehicle, EV, home charger scheme, introduced in 2018, increased in 2019 reflecting the increase in sales of EVs.

In 2019, the Department committed €10 million from the climate action fund to the ESB ecars project to promote the charging network across Ireland and this has leveraged a further €10 million investment from ESB. In total, seven projects, with approval of up to €77 million in support, moved into the validation stage in 2019 and projects approved under this first call for applications are expected to leverage total investments of €300 million. The climate action fund was established on a statutory basis with effect from 1 August last year and preparations are under way to launch a second call for applications for support from the fund allowing both public and private bodies to apply to contribute to the achievement of Ireland’s climate and energy targets in a cost-effective manner.

Some €25 million of the Department’s allocation was spent on communications, multimedia developments and the information society in 2019. Within this total, expenditure to support digital entrepreneurship and to promote digital inclusion among small businesses and citizens amounted to €3.4million.

The contract for the national broadband plan was signed in November that year and will ensure that a future-proofed high speed broadband network will be deployed to support people living and working in rural Ireland. Covering 96% of Ireland’s land mass, the intervention area includes more than 544,000 premises, including almost 100,000 businesses and farms along with 695 schools. The current deployment plan forecasts premises passed in all counties within the first two years. At this stage, survey and design work is under way across every county and 243 broadband connection points have been provided with high speed connectivity.

In other sectoral areas covered by my Department, funding to support public service broadcasting amounted to €247 million in 2019. Investment of over €55 million was targeted at the sustainable management of our natural resources and inland fisheries and a further €62 million on the protection of our natural environment and the transition to a resource-efficient circular economy. Along with my colleagues, I look forward to assisting committee members with any questions they may have.