Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Question 351: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the measures being taken by his Department and its agencies to reduce their carbon footprint in 2007/2008. [9441/08]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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To reduce energy consumption in my Department and in its Offices and to ensure maximum energy efficiency and the minimum carbon footprint in their daily operations, the Department through its Green Team, which was established some years ago and on which representatives of the Department's Offices also serve, has over the past few years initiated the following actions:

Ensured that all lighting in buildings occupied by the Department and its Offices is switched off overnight;

Ensured that the Office of Public Works, which looks after the replacement of electric light bulbs in buildings occupied by the Department and its Offices, uses energy efficient bulbs and long life bulbs wherever possible when electric light bulbs are being replaced;

Ensured that the central heating arrangements for the buildings occupied by the Department and its Offices are switched on and off to achieve optimum energy efficiency;

Ensured that the staff in the Department and in its Offices have been exhorted to:

1. switch off all their computer equipment (base units, monitors and peripheral devices) at the end of each working day;

2. switch off their PC monitors at lunch time and while attending meetings etc.; and

3. ensure that the last person leaving each individual office switches off all electric lights, printers, photocopiers and heaters.

My Department also operates a Travel Pass Scheme for interested members of staff in the Department and its Offices in order to encourage staff to use public transport in lieu of car transport.

The OPW recently announced an initiative to try to reduce CO2 emissions by 15% in targeted State Buildings over the coming years. Two of the buildings occupied by my Department and its Offices have been selected to participate in this initiative and a consultant, appointed by the OPW, is working with the Department to try to achieve this target. It is hoped to extend this initiative and to strive to achieve the target of reducing CO2 emissions by 15% in all of the buildings occupied by my Department and its Offices in the coming years.

As regards the Agencies of my Department, the Deputy will appreciate that ensuring maximum energy efficiency and minimum carbon footprint in their daily operations is an operational issue for the Agencies concerned but the Deputy can rest assured that the Agencies have taken similar actions to those mentioned above over the past few years and will continue to do so.