Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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52. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the breakdown of the funding allocation for his Department for 2020 and 2021 by project. [32385/21]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The total Capital funding allocated to my Department in 2020 was €404.773m and for 2021 it is €616.925m, both of which include capital carryover from the previous year. My Department has responsibility for policy and programmes across a number of areas of national strategic importance, encompassing telecommunications; postal; energy; climate action; waste management, resource efficiency and the circular economy; environmental policy and air quality, and natural resources. These allocations support my Department as we work to achieve our long-term vision of a climate neutral, sustainable and digitally connected Ireland. Key capital programmes and schemes funded by my Department in 2020 and 2021 are detailed below:

*Electric Vehicles were transferred to the Department of Transport from 2021.

**Trading Online Vouchers were transferred to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment from 2021.

The 2020 and 2021 capital allocations also include operational capital for my Department and a number of its agencies including SEAI, Inland Fisheries Ireland and the EPA. 

A full breakdown of the funding allocated to my Department at a programme and subhead level is published by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in the Revised Estimates Volume for the Public Service which can be found at .

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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53. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the breakdown of just transition funding; and the number of workers it is expected to support on an annual basis. [32386/21]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The Just Transition Fund was established in 2020 to support innovative projects that contribute to the economic, social and environmental sustainability of the wider Midlands region and which have employment and enterprise potential.  The Department held a competitive call for applications to this Fund, which closed on 17 July 2020, in response to which over 100 applications were received. 16 'Strand 1' projects, announced in September 2020, have concluded grant agreements with the Department, with a total Just Transition Fund allocation of €1.2m. Provisional grant offers were issued to a further 47 successful applicants through ‘Strand 2’, with a provisional funding value of €27.8m. The Department is currently in the process of finalising grant agreements with these projects. To date, contracts have been issued to 13 ‘Strand 2’ projects with a total Just Transition Fund allocation of almost €6.5m.

There is a widespread allocation of funding for each of the eight eligible counties included in the Just Transition Fund, which include East Galway, Kildare, Laois, Longford, North Tipperary, Offaly, Roscommon and Westmeath.

Supported projects will create viable employment opportunities for workers affected in the Midlands region by the closures of the ESB power plants. Strand 1 projects have reported to my Department that they intend to create 28 full-time jobs, and that a further 175 indirect jobs will be supported as a result of this funding. This funding has also leveraged an additional €383,000 in the region. Once all grant agreements have been finalised, the Department will report on the breakdown of just transition projects by county and expected job creation numbers.