Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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112. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the new initiatives in education and research his Department is planning in 2021 designed to accelerate capacity to deliver the infrastructures and the practices to underpin ambitions for reductions in emissions damaging to climate. [30681/20]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science will be progressing a range of initiatives in education and research in 2021 to advance targets in relation to emissions reduction.

For example, in the further education sector, €8m has been allocated to support the development of retrofit-specific skills initiatives. This will provide up to 500 places on new specialist retrofitting training courses targeted towards unemployed persons. In the region of 400 additional places will also be provided to allow for the expansion of existing programmes targeted to the upskilling of persons already in employment – bringing the total number of learners in retrofit specific programmes to over 1,500 per annum.

The Regional Skills Fora are working with enterprise and education providers in their regions to identify and address the skills needed to transition to the green economy. For example, the Midlands and Mid East Regional Skills Fora continue to work with the Just Transitions team in their region in order to ensure a range of upskilling and reskilling opportunities to enable the workforce to meet the needs of the green economy.

As in other sectors, the upgrade and retrofit of the building stock to meet decarbonisation targets will be an important part of the overall climate response. In the higher education sector, my Department is co-funding an Energy Efficiency and Decarbonisation Pathfinder Programme with SEAI. This initiative, which comprises eight projects and involves total Exchequer investment of €5.9 million, will test and demonstrate retrofit approaches, inform key stakeholders and provide an evidence base for larger scale investments in the future.

My Department has also convened a technical steering group to support the development of a decarbonisation pathways report for the higher education sector. This report, which will include a practical tool to be deployed by the higher education sector in assessing different retrofit approaches, is expected to be finalised this year.

Science Foundation Ireland continues to invest in research which underpins our ambitions for reductions in emissions. These multiannual investments will see new advancements in science, technology and innovation in 2021 and beyond, and will continue to attract industry and international partnerships. Examples of existing investments include large scale world leading SFI Research Centres such as MaREI, the SFI Research Centre for Energy, Climate and Marine and BiOrbic, the SFI Bioeconomy Research Centre.

In addition to the existing investments, SFI will launch new calls for research proposals under its programmes – such as the Frontiers for the Future Programme – that support excellent research, foster diverse top talent and fund research that produces tangible benefits.

New opportunities for all island cooperation in the area of climate action is a priority for SFI in 2021. The agency will also continue its important work on citizen and community engagement, with an increased focus on creating opportunities for dialogue and conversation with the people of Ireland on what the future looks like for them and the role of science and innovation in creating that future.

At the same time, work is underway in my Department to develop the successor strategy to Innovation 2020, Ireland's strategy for research and development, science and technology. I expect the strategy to set out a vision that will ensure we prioritise investing in RDI as key to addressing our economic and social challenges, including the challenge of climate change.