Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party)
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I am delighted the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, is here to answer this question regarding solar panels for schools. Last October, we announced in the budget that we would roll out solar panels on schools for free. It is a very sensible suggestion. It can power the lighting and the interactive white boards in the schools. The increase in the number of school meals we rolled out can be heated. I am delighted we were able to introduce it in last year's budget.

We know solar works very well in Ireland and there have been incredible advances in the roll out of solar in Ireland. As someone who worked as an electrician for 30 years, I was delighted to see the transition we are making to 80% of our electricity being generated from renewable sources. Solar will play a massive part in that. As a Government, we have made some advances and it is important to acknowledge that. We have changed the regulations and planning exemptions have been introduced, so we no longer need planning permission for the installation of solar panels on commercial, domestic and farm buildings.

We introduced a really ambitious grant scheme through the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, which supports people who wish to put solar panels on their roofs at a domestic level. We also introduced a feed-in tariff, so people can be paid for the excess electricity they generate from their roof tops which they do not use at source. Any extra is paid back to the customer.

We have put all of that in place and it has set the framework and groundwork for a solar rooftop revolution. For every kilowatt of electricity we generate in solar, it is 1 kW that does not have to be generated by gas, oil or coal. It helps with the transition to a decarbonised society. Thousands of jobs are being created. I know people who have started to work in the industry and who are fitting solar panels. They are out the door with work. I hope they will be out the work with work for the next 30 years as we roll this out across the country.

There have been massive advances and improvements in the technology in solar. A solar panel has become so much cheaper. The efficiency of solar panels has improved, so they generate a lot more power than the old ones did. The payback time has improved significantly. I always refer back to the report by MaREI, the research centre for energy, climate, and marine in Cork. It talked about the payback time in a domestic setting, which is approximately seven years if 2.5 kW of generation power is put on the roof of a house. We can go up to 6 kW on a domestic scale but that depends on the electricity used during the day. We are working on a utility scale. The first grid-connected solar farm was put into Ashford in County Wicklow and powered up last year. It is a win-win for the farmer who can still graze the land. He gets rent from the solar company which fitted the solar panels and the solar company gets its tariff when it feeds into the grid. Our climate action plan sets a really ambitious target of 8 GW of solar power by 2030.

That brings us to schools. It makes complete sense to do this. When I visit schools, they are so engaged in climate action and want to know about energy, electricity, climate, biodiversity and son on. However, I am not sure what to tell them regarding to the free solar panels for their rooftops, so I hope the Minister can enlighten me on that.

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising the matter as it provides me with the opportunity to outline the current position in relation to the provision of solar panels to schools. I acknowledge Deputy Matthews's personal investment in this and his support for this initiative.

It is a priority for the Government to deliver on Ireland's ambitious climate agenda and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This includes targets around the decarbonisation of Ireland's public buildings. My Department is leading an ambitious sustainability agenda and has progressed a wide array of measures to improve the overall sustainability of our school buildings.

The Department of Education is at the forefront of design with respect to sustainable energy in school buildings, and this performance has been recognised at both national and international levels with sustainable energy awards for excellence in design and specification.

The National Development Plan 2021-2030, which was published in October of 2021, provides capital funding of more than €4.4 billion for investment in school infrastructure during the period 2021 to 2025. There continues to be a strong climate action dimension to this additional modernisation programme.

Schools that are designed and built in accordance with the Department's schools technical guidance documents have been achieving A3 building energy ratings since 2009, with current schools typically achieving up to 20% higher energy performance and 25% better carbon performance than required by the current building regulations, along with 10% of primary energy provided via photovoltaics and infrastructure provision for electric vehicle charging.

All new technologies and approaches are tested to ensure compatibility with school design and operational requirements. Successful and repeatable results are then incorporated into all new school designs and refurbishments. The Department's policy is supported by a strong research programme, with 54 research projects at various stages. This is a joint partnership with the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI.

In the interest of sustainability, it is critical that renewable applications are properly suited to the schools' needs to reduce energy costs and carbon and not just applied for the sake of having renewables. It is also critical we minimise the demand for energy before we invest in renewable energy applications. This has been assisted in previous years with the wall and attic insulation programme and the water conservation programme.

My Department and the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications established a jointly funded pathfinder programme, which is administered by the SEAI and the planning and building unit in the Department of Education, with delivery support from Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board. This pathfinder is a great example of collaboration ensuring the deployment of new design approaches and technologies in the educational environment on an evidence-based approach. This programme continues to assist the Department to explore options and to test various solutions for decarbonised energy efficiency solutions in our broad range of school building types. It is paving the way for and informing a much larger schools national programme for the decarbonisation of schools built prior to 2008, as included in the national development plan, and will play a key part of meeting delivery of the climate action plan. It is facilitating research on a range of typical retrofit options, which will have been tried and tested. It is providing valuable development information for a solution-driven delivery strategy that will be founded on a solid evidence base that has proven the robustness and scalability of renewable solutions within the schools sector.

The pathfinder programme has retrofitted 48 schools across Ireland to date, with work on an additional 16 schools currently at various stages. Each school undergoes a comprehensive assessment to ensure the measures are suitable for that school and will deliver value to both the school and learnings for the national retrofit programme. The works typically involve upgrades to the building fabric, including wall and roof insulation, doors and windows, air tightness improvements, LED lighting and heating upgrades as well as renewable technologies.

Budget 2023 provided for the provision of funding from the climate action fund in respect of the provision of solar panels in schools up to 6 kW output. This is very positive news for our schools and will assist with their energy needs and costs along with supporting the decarbonisation of our school buildings. My departmental officials are working closely with colleagues in the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications on the arrangements for this scheme, and details will be announced in the shortest timeframe possible.

As part of the preparation for the roll-out of the national programme, a key first step was to establish the level of existing-----

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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Thank you, Minister. You will get a chance to come back in.

Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party)
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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.

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I again thank the Deputy for giving me the opportunity to clarify the position in respect of photovoltaics, PV, provision and to overview some of the ambitious sustainability agenda being progressed to improve the overall sustainability of our school buildings. I sincerely acknowledge the Deputy's personal engagement with me on this issue. I acknowledge it is very close to his heart and I acknowledge the commitment from both my Department and the Department of the Minister, Deputy Ryan, to advance this.

There has been significant investment to date, as I have outlined, in retrofitting schools, and the Department will continue to support that in conjunction with the SEAI. As highlighted already, the Department has delivered very strong energy efficiency standards in our new school buildings.

In respect of solar panels specifically, Department of Education officials are working closely with colleagues in the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications on the arrangements specific to this scheme, and details will be announced in the shortest timeframe possible. As part of the preparation for the roll-out of the national programme, as I had started to say, a key first step was to establish the level of existing PV installations in our schools. This capacity survey is nearly completed and will inform how we can progress. The provision of the solar panels will be fully funded for schools, which is an important consideration for all our schools, and the roll-out of the solar panel scheme is expected to commence later this year.

Equally as important for the benefit of our schools, and the Deputy referred to the manner in which schools will be prioritised, is that this will be a multi-annual programme. There is an absolute commitment from both the Department of Education and the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications to advance this initiative for the benefit of our schools. It is very much part of climate action, as the Deputy said. There is no one more invested in the whole area of sustainability and climate action than our students themselves. They have been terrific leaders in the area of sustainability and climate action. This will be a welcome addition to our schools and, as I said, we will give the detail of it in the shortest timeframe possible.