Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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All 31 local authorities adopted Local Authority Climate Action Plans (LA CAPs) by Q1 2024, as required under the Climate Act 2021.

In 2022, my department approved a funding proposal to allocate resources to local authorities to develop and implement their LA CAPs over three phases:

1. Phase 1: Establish the Evidence Base, Resource Requirements, Delivery of the National Climate Action Plan 2021, and Requirements of each LA CAP.
2. Phase 2: Development of LA CAP.
3. Phase 3: Implementation.

Phases 1 and 2 are now complete. A total of €3.3m was paid to local authorities for Phase 1 in 2022. A total of €4.7m was paid to local authorities for Phase 2 in 2023.

Local authorities are now in Phase 3. My department signed a five-year Service Level Agreement with all local authorities for Phase 3 from November 2023 - December 2028.

In 2024, a total of €5.5m was paid to local authorities under Phase 3.

The table below provides a breakdown of the funding claimed by Westmeath County Council and Longford County Council to implement the LA CAPs. The table does not include data for 2020 or 2021 as resourcing for LA CAPs commenced in 2022. Data for 2025 is unavailable as local authorities make a claim for reimbursement to my department in Q4 as part of their annual claims process.

Local authority	2022	2023	2024
Westmeath County Council	€25,989.00	€88,043.01	€155,463.01
Longford County Council	€39,786.00	€138,573.08	€187,608.00

My department is working closely with local authorities to ensure their work on climate action continues to be fully supported and resourced. Engagement is carried out through key areas such as funding the Climate Action Regional Offices (CAROs), the Local Authority Climate Action Training Programme, and providing a support role to the EU Climate Neutral and Smart Cities Mission and Decarbonising Zones.