Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the Minister's response. I visit many schools around County Wicklow and I commend her Department on the quality of the build of the new schools there. The quality is exceptionally high.

The pathfinder programme is very important. The Minister knows better than anybody the pressure schools are often under to heat their buildings. They are always under financial pressure. They have to spend the money on heating when they could be spending it on activities for the children and the students. I think the Minister appreciates and understands that. The pathfinder programme is therefore incredibly important.

As the Minister points out, this is not just about using the same amount of energy but from a different source. It is about getting those energy efficiencies in place, getting that heating, getting those walls insulated, taking the fabric first approach, keeping the heat in when it is generated, new doors and windows etc. Putting solar panels on roofs is the next step in that regard. I can think of no better example to set those young minds in those schools than when they see the advances we can make in technology and see that we use the UV power of the sun to generate electricity to power those schools. That instils in those children what we can innovate and what we can do in this country.

I would like to see this rolled out as quickly as possible. Many of the newer build schools are set up and wired for these solar panels already but many of the older schools are not. I do not know what the process would be to decide which schools go first. I would like to see this rolled out to all schools as quickly as possible. I would like to see solar panels across the entire country, on every rooftop, every farm, every commercial building, every factory and every school.

I will leave it in the Minister's capable hands with the Minister, Deputy Ryan. I look forward to seeing these solar panels rolled out across County Wicklow and pointing out to the students that this is climate action, it is their future, it is job creation, it is the decarbonisation of Ireland, and we are leading on that.

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