Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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10. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the extent to which the Oileáin Árann decarbonisation zone in County Galway has achieved the required 7% annual reduction in greenhouse gas emissions; the status of the implementation plan to achieve the reduction; the resources allocated to Galway County Council in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17823/25]

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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15. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment further to Parliamentary Question No. 111 of 20 February 2025, the extent to which the decarbonisation zone in Galway city has achieved the required 7% annual reduction in greenhouse gas emissions; the status of the implementation plan to achieve the reduction; the resources allocated to Galway City Council in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17822/25]

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I will stay with decarbonisation, particularly the decarbonisation zones in Oileáin Árann and Galway city. I seek an update on what has been achieved in respect of the annual 7% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, the status of the implementation plan and the resources involved. Neither of the local authorities can do much without resources. I will come back to the matter of the delay. For the moment, it would be positive if the Minister could give me an update.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 10 and 15 together.

Local authorities play a key role, working with local communities and businesses, in delivering climate action. The Deputy can be sure of my continued support for local authorities to do that. This role is underpinned by the statutory requirement on each local authority to prepare a local authority climate action plan. Following approval by each council’s elected members, all local authorities adopted their plans in the first quarter of 2024.

Galway City Council and Galway County Council adopted their plans in February 2024. Each local authority established a decarbonising zone, DZ, as part of its plan. DZs are intended to be the focus for a range of climate mitigation, adaptation and biodiversity measures. The Galway City Council decarbonising zones includes parts of Newcastle, Rahoon, Shantalla, and Westside, while Galway County Council selected Oileáin Árann as its decarbonising zone. Galway City Council has established a community one-stop shop in its decarbonising zone to provide guidance to households on retrofitting and a training accelerator programme for the construction industry. Galway County Council is already involved in several climate action projects on the Aran Islands, including Athchúrsáil Árann Teoranta, an award-winning waste collection, recycling and reuse project. Detail on the progress of the local authority climate action plans and the DZs will be made available later this year in line with the statutory annual reporting requirements.

Decarbonising zones offer a significant opportunity for every local authority to drive, promote and showcase climate action at a local level. The week after next, we will, in conjunction with four local authorities, be looking at the progress made in their own climate action plans. To support local authorities, my Department established a decarbonising zone advisory group with the SEAI and it is providing €5.8 million annually to support implementation of those plans. We are also providing €2 million annually to the climate action regional offices, which are supporting local authorities to implement their climate plans and the decarbonising zones. Local authorities recently showcased their work on climate action at an event in Wexford. The implementation and monitoring of local authority climate action plans and indeed the decarbonisation zones is, in the first instance, a matter for the local authorities. They are required to do that on a statutory basis. As Minister, I can assure the Deputy that I will work closely with the local authorities to maximise the potential from the implementation of the plans and decarbonising zones and to showcase progress nationally.

The specific progress on each of the plans will be published later this year. On foot of the Deputy's question, I have sought specific details relating to Galway City Council and Galway County Council. I assure the Deputy, and experience in my previous portfolio will assist me in this, that the local authority network is critical to ensuring that our climate plans are implemented on the ground. These are really good community projects which need to be supported by our local authorities. I will be supporting them as Minister. Over the past four and a half or five years, I have got to know pretty much every director of service right the way across the country. I have been in the Deputy's own dáilcheantar, as she knows, many times and I look forward to visiting Galway again. On the specific measures, I have sought further details for the Deputy on which I will correspond directly with her but the full report will be published later this year.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I look forward to that report and the Minister might give me some indication as to the quarter in which it will be published. As usual, the reason I am sceptical is the delay. I want to praise the city council in Galway. It came up trumps. It was actually within the time limit and it identified the decarbonisation zone. I am from that area originally but am not in it now, although it is quite a big area so I will have to check. I know Shantalla and the area very well. It is beside the university and it is a wonderful example of climate change in action. However, it cannot be done without a properly resourced team. The county council, which we meet regularly along with the Minister's colleagues on a cross-party basis, continuously tells us that it is underfunded. As it cannot even manage to do the roads it is supposed to be doing, I do not know how it can manage this extremely important project. I am familiar with the Aran Islands. It is part of my constituency and I go out there regularly.

I welcome this positive news but the decarbonisation zone was identified by Galway back in 2018 or 2019. We are now in 2025 and I would like to know what progress has been made. Once again, I am not criticising the city council at all; I am asking the Department what monitoring will take place. Will it be monitored independently? What system would be in place for monitoring it? When the report is published later this year, who will give us that report? What markers will be there to show us how much has been achieved? Where are we in respect of our obligation on the 7% reduction? I can tell the Minister that the people of Galway were always ahead of us. Some 20 years ago they are asking us to have a zero-waste policy. We produced a plan in Galway city, which was actually rejected, where we were looking at zero waste. We had a public authority-run facility for recycling, reuse and so on, but the Government privatised it all and we went backwards.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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I agree with the Deputy that many communities have been ahead of successive Governments on this but, to be fair, the Government is here to support communities and local authorities. To specifically answer the Deputy's question as regards even the financial support for local authorities, first, local authorities have never been better funded than over the past five years. By any fair assessment, if one looks at the funding streams and the level of funding they have received, it has been very significant. This is particularly the case in respect of the local authority climate action plans and the decarbonising zones. If I go back to 2022, €3.2 million was paid out by my Department to the sector to begin phase 1. In 2023, that increased to €4.7 million and that was paid for the sector to develop phase 2. In 2024, that increased again, to €5.815 million in annual funding. Under this agreement to date, some €5.6 million of that has actually been paid out.

I agree with Deputy Connolly that implementation is critical. I have seen some of the work already across the local authorities. I was in Kilkenny on Monday and saw some very good work by the climate and active travel teams there. We have to support those plans and the implementation of them on the ground. On the reporting of these plans later this year, I will get the Deputy the information on exactly which quarter that will be. I do not have that information to hand. It will show how each of the climate action plans at a local level are performing and the assessment of that. I will get the Deputy those details as to when exactly that will be published.

I intend to be in Galway over the summer and I will also be visiting all of our climate teams and active travel teams. We had a very good conference in Limerick recently, attended by all of the local authorities, where we saw the brilliant work which is being done on active travel, supported by €360 million of Government Exchequer funding. It is making a real difference out there to allow people to walk or cycle safely to work or school and for leisure purposes. We want to continue to invest in that and to increase investment in it further.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I very much welcome the Minister's hands-on and positive approach. He has mentioned various things. Galway County Council has consistently and continuously told us that it is underfunded. It sets out the parameters under which it gets its funding, and it is underfunded. It is one of the most underfunded local authorities. This is on record with the Minister's Department. There have been many meetings on this issue. The city council is slightly better, but not much.

On active travel, it is oversubscribed all the time. People want active travel. For example, this week there was a second protest out in Bearna. That is tangential to the issue we are discussing but it is in the same area. They had to go out and protest two weeks in a row because of a failure of the safe schools route. The ones that were opened up by the Government going back over time are oversubscribed. There are phases 1, 2 and 3 and, in the meantime, they are taking their safety in their own hands. These are children attending school. I am not exaggerating. People do not protest two weeks in a row at 8 o'clock in the morning, desperately drawing the attention of the county council to the danger, for no reason. Of course, the safe routes to school programme run by An Taisce is brilliant but there is not enough money or resources within the county council to implement the schemes when the NTA, working with An Taisce, brings the schemes up.

I will go back to the issue at hand. It is a wonderful idea but the delay so far has been unacceptable. The council cannot deliver on this. I know this from talking to its representatives on the ground. They do not have the resources in the climate action regional offices, CAROs. The Minister referred to millions of euros. I have a figure of €7.9 million and he has a figure of €9 million. When that is spread out between all of the local authorities it comes to zilch, really. Crucial to this is independent monitoring of the progress with regard to the 7% reduction, and a tolerance to allow local authorities to come forward to tell the Minister they simply cannot do this wonderful thing because they do not have enough money. That atmosphere has to be created where they can come forward.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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I know that the Deputy is a big supporter of the initiative and is passionate about it. Last week, I met one of her constituents, a múinteoir as Na Forbacha through the Irish cycling network. Bhíomar ag caint faoin stailc agus na fadhbanna sna Forbacha agus i mBearna freisin. Déanfaidh mé mo dhícheall cabhair a thabhairt do na daoine i mBearna agus sna Forbacha.

In relation to the overall subject, I am happy to look specifically, as an example, at the CARO in Galway. We are about ten weeks into this job and all of us, including the Minister of State, Deputy Dillon, and I, are getting used to the new infrastructure and the stakeholders that are there. I had a very good meeting last week on the Irish cycling network. The active travel budget is substantial, although I know it does not cover everything that is asked for every year. What we are trying to do is look at what can be implemented on an annualised basis. To have €360 million this year is significant. The review of the national development plan that we are undertaking will continue to significantly increase active travel, which the people want.

This goes back to the Deputy’s point about the residents in Galway city looking to move towards zero waste 20 years ago. They were ahead of their legislators at the time. Legislators have caught up and we are now funding it at a rate we have never done before. Do we need to do more to support communities? Of course, and I get that. The biggest changes we will make are at the on-the-ground level within communities. The response to active travel has been exceptional. I have seen this all the way across the country, including in my own area of north Dublin. People respond to it incredibly well. I will be looking at ways to increase that budget from 2026 onwards to deliver more projects. We are now seeing these active travel projects and networks start to link up, which is positive. I am happy to work directly with the Deputy and, using Galway as an example, to speak to the Deputy’s point about under-resourcing, which I would like to understand better.