Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the officials from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage for coming in to the committee today. I will pick up on embodied carbon, especially in existing buildings. We are constantly seeing buildings in the city being demolished rather than reused. Stephen Court is a beautiful building around the corner for which planning permission has just been received to demolish it. Is the Department looking at requiring developers, when they are submitting their planning applications, to give a justification as to why demolition is essential and the building cannot be reused instead? If reuse is not possible in every circumstance, would there be pre-demolition audits of the materials in order that we can ensure as much as possible is salvaged from the site and that the developer would then show, through that audit, how he or she will use those materials in the new development?

What is the protocol for all public work contracts, whereby reuse would be the default position? Is the State is showing leadership in that role? With regard to public procurement changes, the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, and the Irish Green Building Council have both said that we need to incentivise the use low-carbon cement, which exists. The technology is there. More cement than is required is being used in developments. Will there be changes to public procurement to ensure the State is showing leadership in incentivising low-carbon construction methods?