Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Question 215: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance the measures being taken by his Department and its agencies to reduce their carbon footprint in 2007/2008. [9443/08]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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My Department and its agencies have implemented or are in the process of implementing measures to reduce their carbon footprint in 2007/08.

The Office of Public Works it is currently engaged in a multifaceted strategy to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and the overall carbon footprint of Government occupied buildings, as follows:

A state wide staff energy awareness campaign entitled "Optimising Power @ Work" in 250 large state office buildings. The target is to reduce carbon emissions by an average of 15% in each building over the course of the project.

A Heating Fuel Conversion Programme to convert the heating systems of approximately 20 large state buildings from their existing fossil fuel burners (oil/natural gas) to biomass burners. The biomass fuel will be in the form of Wood Pellets or Wood Chips. Apart from the obvious benefit that biomass provides, the conversion programme is intended to stimulate the native production of these fuels.

Maximising energy efficiency through the design and construction of newly commissioned buildings.

In relation to my Department and the other offices and agencies under its aegis, I have been informed that a range of measures are being implemented to reduce the carbon footprint of these offices and agencies, including:

Energy audits and energy awareness campaigns.

Increased sourcing of energy from renewable source.

Recycling policies in relation to paper and other materials with every effort made to purchase eco-friendly products.

The use of green energy efficient IT servers and of virtualisation technology to consolidate the number of servers required.

Use of software products that automatically shut down personal computers according to a centrally controlled schedule.