Malcolm Byrne (Wicklow-Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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627. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the specific measures taken in his Departmental offices and operations in reducing energy usage and to assist in Ireland meeting our climate targets for 2030; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23329/25]

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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My Department currently meets its year on year carbon emission targets, towards the 2030 target reduction of 51% in emissions based on a 2016-2018 baseline. We actively monitor our annual emissions through the SEAI monitoring and reporting programme.

We work closely with the OPW to retrofit our buildings with energy efficient measures. Examples include the installation of LED lighting at our Killarney and Na Forbacha offices, and the recent transfer of our Dublin based staff to a new Near-Zero-Energy-Building in Leeson Lane.

Along with technical features, we are maximising the use of our buildings through blended working and sharing our working spaces with other Government Departments and organisations.

We also place emphasis on carbon reductions through our staff awareness and behaviour change programmes, as part of the OPW's "Optimising Power at Work Programme".

My Department has an active green team, chaired at Assistant Secretary level and supported by local green teams across our buildings to identify other actions to improve sustainability.

Finally, we continue to develop sustainability policies for the Department's sectors through our climate policy working group.