Mr. Andrew Brownlee:

I thank the members for the opportunity to speak on behalf of the Construction Industry Federation on the sector’s role in meeting Ireland’s 2026 to 2030 climate targets. The industry fully supports the national ambition and - building on a 21% fall in built environment emissions since 2018 and the wider adoption of greener practices - we will set out the key barriers, propose practical solutions, and work constructively with Government to secure a sustainable, low-carbon future.

Ireland’s climate targets are highly ambitious. The scale and speed of change required this decade are clear and demand accelerated, deeper action. From the construction industry’s perspective, we have identified five key barriers that could hinder our progress toward these climate targets.

Ireland’s infrastructure gap in energy, water and transport is constraining competitiveness and climate delivery. In the IMD 2025 competitiveness rankings, Ireland ranks 44th for basic infrastructure against seventh for overall competitiveness and first in Europe.

Grid and planning bottlenecks are well documented, and public EV charging density remains well below the EU average. Until enabling pipes and wires, reinforced electricity networks for heat pumps and EVs, and adequate water and wastewater capacity are delivered at pace, decarbonisation will lag. CIF’s proposals for multi-annual investment in water and electricity networks align with this need.

Ireland generated circa 9 million tonnes of construction and demolition waste in 2023, with 81% of this consisting of soils and stones. To deliver the necessary reductions at scale, we support regional soil hubs, targeted equipment support on screening, washing and soil stabilisation and a national construction materials testing laboratory to expedite approvals for secondary aggregates and modern methods of construction, MMC, systems.

Some of the initiatives under the climate transition plan, like the retrofitting of domestic dwellings, present a skills challenge. This is a distinct subsection of the construction industry. It is very much a micro-industry and is difficult to scale due to business models and multiple domestic customers. To deliver 500,000 B2 retrofits and 400,000 heat pumps by 2030, we must broaden the talent pipeline as the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, deems the targets extremely challenging.

CIF has asked for the reinstatement of the apprenticeship incentivisation scheme, the expansion of technical education, the acceleration of upskilling and international recruitment. Perhaps permitting air-to-air heat pumps to be installed alongside existing boilers could be a more pragmatic or hybrid approach and coupled with a steadier domestic project pipeline will help grow green skills quickly. Decarbonising construction also involves materials such as cement, concrete, and steel, which contribute to high emissions. Cement alone accounts for approximately 43% of industrial CO2 emissions and the climate action plan 2025 aims for a 30% reduction in embodied carbon by 2030. We support whole-life carbon, WLC, measurement and whole-life cycle costing, WLCC, embedded in design and digital workflows.

To achieve this, low-carbon cements, concretes, timber and recycled materials require quicker standards approval, testing and scale-up, as recommended by the Climate Change Advisory Council, CCAC.

A practical gap remains in the context of decarbonising construction sites. Heavy plant and temporary power still rely on diesel, with inconsistent signals regarding near-term alternatives as EV tax measures taper off. To address this, we suggest: a national hydrotreated vegetable oil, HVO, hierarchy, with VAT parity for non-road mobile machinery, NRMM, and site generators; incentives for hybrid gensets with battery energy storage systems; and on-site EV charging, electric plant, sustainable site cabins, PV or a green NRMM support scheme. The transition requires a stable, practical policy environment and predictable pipelines with multi-annual funding, clear planning and building rules, steady carbon pricing and retrofit grants without sudden changes that can discourage investment. It also needs consistent EV support in respect of charging and grants and reform of punitive crew-cab VRT that unnecessarily adds to traffic.

In a spirit of constructive dialogue, we ask whether today’s targets reflect real-world population and economic pressures. The population has been growing significantly year on year, including by 2% last year. While the CIF remains firmly committed to ambitious action, the sector is asked to reduce emissions quickly while delivering the housing and infrastructure that a growing Ireland needs. This is a true balancing act. If specific milestones prove unattainable despite best efforts, we should recalibrate transparently to preserve public support, avoid unintended economic impacts and continue to accelerate emissions reductions. Our industry is already progressing strongly on climate action. We want to work with the Government to overcome the barriers and ensure construction can help lead Ireland’s transition and create green jobs.

I thank the members very much for their time. We look forward to discussing these matters further.