Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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769. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if it is her intention for further school retrofits to be funded in 2026 under the school sector decarbonisation pathfinder programme; if she will clarify if there is an application process to be considered for this scheme; the way in this this process is accessed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18725/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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My Department and the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications have developed a jointly funded school sector decarbonisation pathfinder programme. It is administered by the Planning and Building Unit in my Department and the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland in partnership with devolved delivery support from Limerick and Clare Education Training Board, and Longford and Westmeath Education Training Board.

This Pathfinder programme is paving the way for, and informing, a much larger national decarbonisation school sector programme.

The pathfinder programme is a great example of collaboration ensuring the deployment of new design approaches and technologies are introduced to the school sector on an evidence-based approach. This programme continues to assist my Department to explore options and test various solutions for decarbonised energy efficiency solutions in our broad range of school building types.

It is facilitating research on a range of typical retrofit options for schools, which will be tried and tested. It is providing valuable development information for a solution driven delivery strategy which will be founded on a solid evidence base that has proven the robustness and scalability of renewable solutions within the school sector.

The general principles and approach to school selection includes; schools who comply with their annual reporting obligations to the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) with respect to their annual energy usage under the Energy Monitoring and Reporting scheme and secondly schools that demonstrate a strong and holistic commitment to energy management practices through participation in the Energy in Education website portal and advice programme that is operated by the SEAI and my Department.

The programme selection also seeks to enable various cross sections of school types and sizes, energy consumption profiles and different elements of construction type and heritage/ conservation requirements where specific learnings are being targeted.

The pathfinder programme is generally delivered in line with the above considerations however and not on an application basis. Schools who wish to be considered should ensure that they are meeting their Energy Monitoring and Reporting requirements and also participating in the Energy in Education Programme.

Another key initiative of my Department is to establish a national energy profile of all schools. Phase 1 of the energy inventory profile (which comprised all schools across five counties) is complete and the Department has been approved funding for the final phase from REPowerEU. This phase is underway and involves energy assessors gathering focused information on energy use, building types, age, and size along with an overview of general fabric and energy aspects of electrical and mechanical systems in approximately 3,300 schools. This energy inventory profile of the full school estate will facilitate strategic decision-making by the Department on priorities for future capital investment in schools.

The programme of work and funding available for 2026 has yet to be confirmed.