Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

To minimise the carbon footprint of my Department in its daily operations, the Department through its green team, which was established some years ago, has over the past few years initiated a range of actions which I outlined in a previous reply so I will not repeat them.

The Department also operates a travel pass scheme for interested members of staff in order to encourage staff to use public transport in lieu of car transport.

No formal carbon auditing has been undertaken by my Department but being conscious of our obligations to the environment the steps mentioned above have been implemented in recent years. I intend to put in place measures to audit carbon output performance. We will continue to monitor energy consumption and to implement steps to minimise the carbon footprint of the Department in its daily activities. We are complying with the appropriate provisions in the National Climate Change Strategy 2007-2012 and in the new programme for Government.

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