Malcolm Byrne (Wicklow-Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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268. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade 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. [23320/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is fully committed to the Climate Action Plan and its Climate Action Roadmap. The Department is striving to reach the targets to improve energy efficiency by 50% by 2030 and to reduce Green House Gas emissions by 51% by 2030. To date, DFAT has improved its energy performance by 38.6%, against the energy efficiency baseline of 2011 and has also improved its total CO2 emissions by 17.6%, against the baseline of 2018.

The Department considers the Climate Action Roadmap, which is governed by the Department's Executive Management Group, to be of the utmost importance and will continue to engage with the relevant stakeholders to promote this amongst staff.

The Department’s Sustainability efforts cover a range of areas including:

Training

• Climate Action and Sustainability training have been integrated into the Department’s Learning and Development Framework.

• Since 2024, the Department’s van fleet has been reduced to two vehicles, both electric. This is intended to assist Ireland’s efforts under the EU Directive, amending Directive 2009/33/EC on the promotion of clean and energy - efficient road transport vehicles;
• In line with the Climate Action Roadmap, our ICT Unit is in the process of migrating all HQ locations over to Multi-Function Printers controlled by managed printing. This has allowed us to remove our reliance on over 150 aging standalone printers/scanner/copiers in half the HQ locations to date.

• In 2024, two boilers in our HQ building, Iveagh House, were upgraded with new modern and efficient systems;
• Our newest office accommodation, in Balbriggan and in Dublin 2, use smart technology in the heating and ventilation systems (HVAC and BMS) to control and manage temperatures throughout the building;
• Staff occupancy levels operate at a minimum of 1.2 persons per desk, to ensure maximum efficiency of resources and space.

• The Department continues to engage with the SEAI’s ‘Reduce Your Use’ and OPW’s Optimising Power @Work campaigns to promote energy saving techniques amongst staff in the department;
• Annual events such as ‘Step Up Day’ and ‘Woolly Jumper Day’ promote energy saving techniques and awareness to drive sustainability initiatives in the department;
• Events such as Kids Colouring Competitions encourage staff to involve their families in energy saving activities;
• The Department has registered for the Ready, Set, Cycle Programme with a bike clinic and bike display currently being organised for May.