Francis Noel Duffy (Dublin South West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I will have a look. My other question arises from the briefing I had from the Department of Housing, Government and Local Heritage. I know it is not fully Mr. Meally’s bailiwick, so I am asking his opinion in the context of levels and the EU implementing the carbon targets and whether they will be A- or B-rated. I know that is out there because I am working on buildings where we are trying to do a proof of concept building to find out where it is. While it will be difficult to get it A-rated, we think we can. In that, the message I got from the Department was that it will not be doing anything until 2025.

I am actually working on a building where we have a mechanical and engineering company that is processing the embodied carbon of the building through levels, through a software package called One Click LCA, which brings in all of the environmental product declarations, EPD, data and we are able to cost that environmentally. What I find odd and what I do not understand is why the State is not doing anything.

I know it is not SEAI's remit but why are we not moving forward like other countries? I heard that one pilot is happening. I was not aware of it. I have been arguing for quite a few years that the State should pilot building because from the research I have done, I know that if you do not know how to build it, people will not experiment. You are lucky if you have a client who wants to experiment. Is there any reason why we are waiting? That is three years away. I would often promote the fact that Ireland probably has the best operational energy regulations on the planet. We are very close to having the best. Is there any reason for our stalling?