Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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111. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment to provide an update on the decarbonisation zone in Galway city; the status of the implementation plan; the resources in place to achieve the required 7% annual reduction in greenhouse gas emissions to 2030; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6437/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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Local government has a key role to play in developing and implementing mitigation and adaptation measures to meet Ireland’s national climate targets. Local authorities have been given a clear mandate to reduce local greenhouse gas emissions through the statutory requirement to prepare Local Authority Climate Action Plans (LA CAPs) as per the 2021 Climate (Amendment) Act.

All 31 local authorities adopted their Local Authority Climate Action Plans by Q1 2024, each having been approved by the respective elected members in each local authority area. Galway City Council adopted its Local Authority Climate Action Plan (LA CAP) on the 12th of February 2024.

As part of their LA CAP, each local authority was required to select a Decarbonising Zone. Galway City Council selected an area containing parts of Newcastle, Rahoon, Shantalla, and Westside as its Decarbonising Zone.

Implementation of the LA CAP and Decarbonising Zone is the responsibility of each individual local authority.

Statutory guidelines were issued by my Department to assist all local authorities in the preparation of their LA CAPs and included a separate Technical Annex D on Decarbonising Zones.

My Department has funded local authorities to assist with the LA CAPs and Decarbonising Zones. A five year multi-annual SLA was signed by my Department with each local authority to fund Phase 3: Implementation of the local climate action plans, including the Decarbonising Zones. This allows for a maximum allocation of €5.815m per annum and follows on from €7.9m in funding which was provided by my Department in 2022 and 2023 for Phases 1 and 2.

My Department set up a Decarbonising Zone Advisory Group as a joint initiative with the SEAI to support local authorities at national level with their Decarbonising Zones. The Advisory Group will provide opportunities for shared learnings and help with accelerating actions and innovations.