Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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My Department has a strong record with respect to sustainable energy in school buildings and this performance has been recognised at both national and international level with sustainable energy awards for excellence in design and specification.

My Department’s approach to the decarbonisation of the school sector is predicated on establishing a credible phased pathway to zero emissions, and meeting 2030 public sector targets through an evidence based approach, informed by the Department’s Energy Research Programme which has been in place from 1997 with 54 different research strands.

The Department’s primary goal under the School Building Programme is to build a modern and sustainable school infrastructure that provides a place in a safe and inspiring learning physical environment for all students, now and in the future.

Under Project Ireland 2040, in excess of €5 billion will be invested in school infrastructure during the period 2021 to 2025.

As part of our overall approach to sustainability in the school estate, it is intended that 6 kilowatt solar PV panels will be provided to schools, funded from the Climate Action Fund, which is under the remit of the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications.

This is really positive for our schools and will assist with their energy needs and costs along with supporting the decarbonisation of our school buildings.

In advance of the roll-out of the programme, the Department carried out a capacity survey to ascertain the level of existing solar PV panels installed in schools. This is now complete and has found that approximately 10% of post-primary schools and 5% of primary schools have solar PV panels installed.

My Department has been engaging regularly with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications to prepare for the roll-out of this programme. This has involved engagement around issues such as the scope of the scheme, the detail of what is included in the PV installation package, and compliance with the requirements of the Climate Action Fund.

The scheme will fund 6 kilowatts of roof-mounted solar PV, which equates to approximately 16 solar panels. Connection to the grid will be included, to allow unused solar energy to feed to the grid when schools are closed. This will enable schools to be compensated for renewable exports to the grid.

Monitoring software will also be provided to each school, to allow review and discussion of the energy generated each day for staff and students.

It is intended that the scheme will be implemented using my Department’s geographic information system (GIS) to support efficient rollout. This will provide a user-friendly online mechanism for schools interacting with the Department on this scheme.

This will be the first capital delivery programme of its kind to be implemented using GIS as the interface between schools and the Department. As a result, considerable work has been ongoing in my Department in developing the GIS platform and interface.

It has been agreed in principle between the two Departments that the solar PV programme will be rolled out to schools in phases.

I am pleased to advise that we remain on track to launch the first phase of the scheme this quarter and we expect all schools to have the opportunity to apply on a phased basis between Q4 2023 and the end of 2024. Officials from my Department and the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications are currently working to finalise all details of the scheme.

I look forward to being in a position to make a more detailed announcement in conjunction with Ministers Ryan and Smyth in the coming weeks.