Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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129. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform his plans for the retrofit of public office accommodation. [32340/21]

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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The Public Sector Retrofit Pathfinder Project at Tom Johnson House, being undertaken by the Office of Public Works (OPW) is one of its major capital projects. I am pleased to note the inclusion of this project within Ireland’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) 2021.

The National Recovery and Resilience Plan recently published by the Government identifies advancing the green transition as a top priority and allocates significant funding towards decarbonising projects such as the retrofitting of public office accommodation. The OPW is deeply committed to helping advance sustainable solutions that mitigate against climate change, including through the new Public Sector Retrofit Pathfinder Project as well as through a Public Service Innovation Fund project, which will develop guidelines for the deep energy renovation of historic public sector properties.

The Public Sector Retrofit Pathfinder Project at Tom Johnson House, located in Beggars Bush Dublin 4, will involve a significant refurbishment of this five storey over basement office building that was constructed circa 1975. This energy efficient project will be an exemplar of a ‘deep retrofit’ refurbishment project and will represent the OPW as a leader in the transition to a sustainable, low-carbon, resource-efficient economy.

The works will consist of a significant upgrade to the building thermal fabric and overall energy use – that will upgrade the Building Energy Rating (BER) from a C3 rating to an A2 rating, resulting in a 75% reduction of annual energy use. The project is currently out to tender and it is anticipated that the construction will start in Q4 2021 with a 21 month construction period.

When the proposed works are complete, the building, which is currently occupied by the Labour Relations Commission and the Geological Survey of Ireland, will become the new headquarters of the Department of Environment, Climate & Communications (DECC). The overall policy for retrofitting buildings across the entire public sector rests with the DECC.