Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 15 October 2024

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action

Update on the Public Sector Climate Action Mandate: Discussion

11:00 am

Mr. Declan Meally:

The Senator's question was related to the business case for the public sector. She was right in that we are making a business case for a programme and funding right across the public sector, following the infrastructure guidelines in terms of procurement. Each organisation is to make a business case for its own project. There is a certain level of competition in this regard but it is a case of understanding what projects are shovel ready and taking all the relevant items into account. I will let my colleague Mr. O’Sullivan respond in a little more detail to the Senator's question on the aspects that are considered in the business case. It is about deciding whether to deeply retrofit and determining whether the cost of going where we need to go from a European-targets perspective or an emissions-targets perspective could be achieved through low-cost retrofits and the energy management of buildings. That is what the business case helps us to consider. Mr. O'Sullivan might wish to give his point of view.