Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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447. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of the energy efficiency and decarbonisation pathfinder programme in the higher education sector and plan to develop a similar programme for the further education and training sector as outlined in the National Development Plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [58479/21]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Eight higher education institutions were approved in 2020 to progress projects under the Energy Efficiency and Decarbonisation Pathfinder Programme 2020 co-funded with SEAI. These projects will test and demonstrate energy retrofit approaches, build scale, and inform key stakeholders. Please see table attached below with the current status and expected completion dates for the projects in question.

A further eight projects have been successful at 'Expression of Interest' stage and have been approved to progress to Stage 2a design under the EEDPP 2021 Programme. Following the development of stage 2a designs, an Assessment Team will be convened to evaluate the projects and identify those which will proceed to implementation, cognisant of the funding envelope available.

My Department is currently reviewing the parameters of the next phase of Exchequer capital investment in the further and higher education sectors in the context of NDP ceilings published last month. It is intended that an Energy Efficiency & Decarbonisation Pathfinder Programme will be rolled out to the FET sector in the near future.

Table 1: EEDPP 2020