Neasa Hourigan (Dublin Central, Green Party)
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1198. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the special measures his Department is taking to reduce energy usage in the scenario in which members of the public are being asked to do the same. [20295/22]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Since the establishment of my Department in August 2020, my staff have worked across a number of locations. Several of these buildings are shared an operated by the Department of Education and as such my staff in those buildings adhere to Department of Education initiatives on energy saving.

The Property Management Services in the Office of Public Works, acquired new office space for my Department’s Head Quarters at 52 Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2 in September 2021. As my Department has only been in occupancy for a short period of time it is not possible to quantify the energy costs associated with the building and associated actions on usage. However, I can state that during enabling works on the building, carried out on behalf of the Office of Public Works, in December 2021 a new energy efficient gas boiler system was commissioned. This is predicted to provide considerable savings and a reduction in energy wastage. Furthermore, building surveys are being carried out on what other measures may be implemented in what is a historic structure. These surveys include the upgrading of windows and improving insulation to prevent heat loss.

My officials continue to take measures to reduce energy consumption where possible with equipment upgrades and refurbished lighting helping to reduce the energy demand.

Energy management and performance data for the further and higher education sector is reported annually to the SEAI in order to track the sector’s progress. The SEAI in turn publishes an Annual Report setting out the overall energy efficiency performance results of public sector bodies.

The 2021 Annual Report was based on data relating to 2020 and the report was, therefore, based on sectoral groups as they existed at the outset of 2020. Higher education institutions and Education & Training Boards formed part of the Education and Skills Group. The Education and Skills group performed well, reporting energy savings since baseline of 46%. These savings have been achieved by a combination of behavioural change as a result of energy conservation campaigns and targeted investment in the area of energy upgrade works. There is a strong commitment in the sector to improved energy efficiency and decarbonisation.

In 2020 my Department partnered with SEAI to commence a Pathfinder Programme in higher education buildings. The purpose of this programme is to establish a pathway for a large-scale building energy retrofit programme to meet the targets set out in the Climate Action Plan 2021. A total of €18 million has been allocated to date, funded 50/50 by my Department and SEAI, and additional funding is currently under consideration. Building on the success of this Pathfinder Programme it is intended to extend the programme imminently to the Further Education and Training sector.