Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I might give a slightly more detailed answer on cement because it is important to read it into the record of this committee, given that it is one of the major problem areas. There are other areas too, which I know people will want to talk about, but I might just focus for a moment on the cement side. The cement and construction sectors are separate activities but are highly independent. The cement sector constitutes 41% of industrial emissions in Ireland and, therefore, close to 5.5% of total national emissions, both in thermal heating and process emissions released in clinker formation. These emissions are recognised as very hard to rebate due to the requirements for high-temperature heating and the industrial process emissions released during the manufacture of industry-standard Portland cement. Reducing emissions will require limiting demand for cement and investing in alternative methods of production. The construction sector has a broad emissions footprint with substantial impacts on emissions in manufacturing, combustion, transport, the built environment and energy systems. The key objective of Climate Action Plan 2023 is the reduction of embodied carbon in construction materials for industry and, obviously, cement is a big part of that.

As to the Deputy's question on what we can do about it, my Department has established a cross-departmental cement and construction sector decarbonisation working group, which happened last year, and through the working group members work collaboratively on the following policy areas. The first, green public procurement, relates to designing an approach to ensure public sector purchasing power plays a significant role in sending market signals aimed at decarbonising the cement sector, that is, trying to build that into our procurement processes for the materials we are asking to be used in State contracts. Other areas include the work of Enterprise Ireland in enabling the implementation of detailed decarbonisation implementation strategies by client companies in high-impact sectors including cement manufacturing, and taking a national approach to whole-life cycle carbon assessment in the development by the Department of housing and the SEAI to implement the energy performance of buildings directive. To promote widespread adoption, my Department is leading a cross-departmental and cross-agency modern methods of construction leadership and integration group. This has the potential to dramatically improve construction sector productivity, innovation, speed of delivery, sustainability and, ultimately, cost.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications are leading the work of the timber working group, which will focus on the area of timber in construction projects, including the use of the regulatory framework for cross-laminated timber. At the moment, the problem is that it is only permitted to use cross-laminated timber for four-storey buildings so its use is limited, for example, for apartments. In most other European cities we see cross-laminated timber being used in much higher buildings so we know it is possible. We are looking at whether it is appropriate to change the certification and so on. I think it is.

These are the kinds of practical things we can do to change what a building site looks like and to change the materials being used. It would be naive to say we will not need any cement or concrete in the next decade, but we can certainly move away from it, where possible, try to change the industry over time and support the industry in the changes that are needed to reduce carbon released by the cement process. We also want to look seriously at carbon capture and storage to avoid the release of carbon. There are things we can do. If we can make a big impact on the cement industry, it could have a dramatic impact on the overall challenge of meeting the targets for the industrial sector. It is not the only area. We also need to work in a whole range of other areas, but the cement sector is a relatively small sector as regards the number of people who work in it and there should be a big focus on it in the next few years.