Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 30 September 2015

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform

Estimates for Public Services 2015: Vote 13 - Office of Public Works

2:00 pm

Ms Clare McGrath:

I will not. It is a combination of the occupier and us. Through our energy efficiency programme, we have been working with the occupiers of our estate, including Leinster House. We all have targets for reducing carbon emissions. There are benefits to working with occupiers. Behavioural change, combined with works, is leading to a reduction in use. I would need to see the figures first, but I could provide a report on Leinster House. It is more energy efficient than one might believe. As the Deputy rightly stated, the occupier occupies while we provide the building, but we are considering setting density targets, namely, numbers of people per square metre. Occupiers must work towards these when utilisation starts being reported on. If there is a building of X sq. m with a certain number of persons, the figure should be 10, 30 or 50 sq. m per person.