Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

——ensure all lighting in the Department's eight buildings is switched off overnight; ensure the Office of Public Works, which looks after the replacement of electric light bulbs in my Department's buildings, uses energy-efficient bulbs and long-life bulbs wherever possible when electric light bulbs are being replaced; ensure the central heating arrangements for the Department's buildings are switched on and off to achieve optimum energy efficiency; and ensure the staff in the Department switch off all their computer equipment — base units, monitors and peripheral devices — at the end of each working day, switch off their PC monitors at lunchtime and while attending meetings etc and ensure the last person leaving each individual office switches off all electric lights, printers, photocopiers and heaters.

These initiatives have had no adverse cost implications for my Department and have resulted in energy cost savings that are impossible to quantify. My Department will continue to monitor its energy consumption and will, where practicable, continue to implement steps to ensure maximum energy efficiency and the minimum carbon footprint in the daily activities of the Department.

Agencies under the remit of my Department are conscious of the need to achieve a high level of energy efficiency. Ensuring maximum energy efficiency and minimum carbon footprint in their daily operations is an operational issue for the agencies concerned. Although there is no formal policy in place in respect of energy efficiency in most of the agencies, a number of them have undertaken efficiency surveysand carbon footprint audits to ensure efficiency measures are met. Most of the agencies have not isolated the cost of minimising the carbon footprint in their daily operations.

A number of buildings occupied by agencies are leased and therefore the agencies have no direct control of the efficiency measures applied at the time these buildings were originally fitted out. However, newer premises either leased or bought will have stipulated sustainable energy efficiency measures such as optimising heating and lighting controls and water saving measures in their fit-out requirements. Waste recycling is also standard practice throughout all buildings occupied by the agencies.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House.

My Department and its agencies operate a travel pass scheme encouraging staff members to use public transport in both working and leisure hours, thus assisting in reducing the level of carbon emissions. Official travel in my Department is governed by the regulations on travel and subsistence issued civil and public sector wide by the Department of Finance, and provide that staff must use public transport when travelling on business, where practical.

Official travel in the agencies under the remit of my Department is appraised and monitored by each agency to ensure that travel is restricted to necessary journeys only. Wherever feasible, staff of agencies use public transport when travelling on official business. Video conference and conference calls facilities are utilised to avoid the need for official travel, where appropriate. My Department and its agencies keep appraised of new communications technology in an attempt to further reduce the need for staff to travel.

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