Mr. Mark Christal:

I welcome the opportunity to present to the committee on the topic of carbon and energy within the construction industry and outline the actions and initiatives that Enterprise Ireland is engaged with to support companies in this area.

I am the divisional manager for food and sustainability with Enterprise Ireland. I would like to introduce my colleagues who are accompanying me, Ms Rowena Dwyer, the department manager for sustainability and climate change, and online, Mr. Neil Kerrigan, Mr. Ross O’Colmain and Mr. Kevin Flynn.

With the support of the Department Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, Enterprise Ireland’s purpose is helping Irish companies to start, grow, innovate and win export sales. We work with internationally-focused Irish enterprises across all sectors of the economy, including the construction and cement sector, supporting them to strengthen their competitiveness and productivity, increase innovation and realise their growth potential, thereby contributing to employment and economic growth across all regions.

The transition to a low carbon and circular economy and achievement of a 51% reduction in emissions by 2030 across all sectors of the economy represents a whole-of-society challenge. Enterprise, along with all other sectors, must fundamentally change to adapt to this challenge and realise the many opportunities this transformation represents.

Our recently published strategy, Leading in a Changing World, sets out a vision for 2030 of Irish enterprises creating solutions for global challenges and delivering sustainable prosperity throughout Ireland. Transforming the sustainability performance of Irish enterprise and supporting companies to capitalise on the growth opportunities presented by the low carbon transition are key areas of focus of our strategy and of our work with companies over the coming decade and beyond.

The Government’s Climate Action Plan 2021 sets out a target for the enterprise sector of reducing emissions by between 29% and 41% by 2030. Enterprise Ireland is working with companies to meet this target and to embed sustainability as a strategic business priority, to meet changing customer demand and to remain competitive into the future.

During 2022, specific initiatives we will be undertaking to achieve this objective include delivering the climate enterprise action fund, which provides opportunities for companies with training and capability supports to accelerate awareness of abatement opportunities and to develop plans for lower-carbon products, processes and business models; and delivering the forthcoming carbon reduction fund, which will support enterprise investment in CO2 reducing technologies in manufacturing combustion processes. We have a particular focus on identifying and engaging with client companies in high impact sectors such as food, cement and construction to support their development of strategic, long-term decarbonisation roadmaps.

Enterprise Ireland works with internationally focused construction products and services companies. These companies make an important contribution to economic activity in Ireland, with exports of €2.5 billion recorded in 2020 and providing employment across all regions of more than 40,000 people. In common with other sectors of the economy, the construction sector is facing immediate challenges in the form of increased costs, including energy and through supply chain disruption, while addressing the longer-term strategic challenges of adapting to the digital and low carbon transition. Through our funding, advisory and capability building supports and our overseas office network, Enterprise Ireland works directly with construction companies to respond to these immediate challenges and to support their long-term development and growth. Our key areas of focus for the development of the sector include digitalisation, lean training to increase productivity, modern methods of manufacturing and product and process innovation.

In the area of sustainability, construction and cement companies are seeing growing customer demand, including through public procurement requirements for products and services that support lower levels of carbon embodiment. In addition, they are facing up to the challenge of reducing their own carbon emissions in line with the climate action plan targets for enterprise. Enterprise Ireland is engaging with companies in these sectors to identify their needs and to support the development and implementation of sustainability roadmaps to address these challenges.

Building upon our work with exporting companies, under the Government’s Housing for All plan, Enterprise Ireland is delivering productivity, innovation and research supports to the domestic residential construction sector. This is to achieve the objective of increasing productivity in this sector and reducing the cost of homebuilding. After a period of industry consultation, the Built To Innovate campaign was launched by an Tánaiste in March 2022. The objective of this campaign, which will run over the next 36 months, is to work with homebuilders, general contractors and off-site manufacturing companies to enhance their capabilities and deliver innovation to the sector through new products or processes.

As the Government embarks on a major building and infrastructure investment programme, set out in the National Development Plan 2021-2030 and in Housing for All from 2021 to 2030, the delivery of productivity, research and innovation supports to the domestic-focused construction industry, as well as exporting companies, is being prioritised. In partnership with the Government’s construction sector group, Enterprise Ireland is leading the establishment of the construction technology centre. The technology centre programme is a joint initiative between Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland, allowing Irish companies and multinationals to work together on specific research projects, in collaboration with research institutions, often providing solutions to sector wide challenges. The construction technology centre will join with the build digital project and the modern methods of construction initiative as the Government’s technology infrastructure response to enabling a more integrated competitive, sustainable and digitally enhanced domestic construction sector.

Following a competitive process, in April of this year, the Enterprise Ireland board approved a proposal from a consortium of regionally balanced construction and built environment focused research groups across four third level institutions, namely, National University of Ireland, Galway, NUIG, Trinity College Dublin, TCD, University College Cork, UCC, and University College Dublin, UCD, working with the Irish Green Building Council. The construction technology centre will be established in June this year and will be hosted by NUIG, which will provide the personnel, administration and institutional supports to the consortia.

The construction technology centre will focus on urgent construction and housing research challenges, defined by Government and industry but delivered in an accelerated manner. The research focus will start in the urgent areas relating to productivity, affordability and cost; quality and safety; sustainability; skills and training; and collaboration. With regard to sustainability, a significant part of the centre’s work will be research to support companies involved in the retrofitting of existing structures and those involved in developing more sustainable processes for new construction.

The consortia will have access to and will work closely with the Irish Green Building Council on the identification of urgent and important issues and will work with industry stakeholders on the dissemination of results to inform changes and improve practices, processes and influence policy changes for the benefit on the sector.

Strengthening productivity and improving sustainability are key areas of focus for the construction sector and Enterprise Ireland, in the activities set out above, will continue to work with companies to deliver on these objectives. I thank members for their attention and I and my colleagues are available to answer any questions.