Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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117. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government for the provision of a local community climate action officer for County Cork to liaise and work directly with the various rural community groups in County Cork in developing projects to address climate change; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49279/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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The provision of supports for community efforts to address climate change is a priority for me and there are a number of ways that specific positions are financially supported by programmes under my remit. Firstly, the Climate Action Fund supports the provision of Community Climate Action Officers (CCAOs) in each local authority through Strand 1 of the Community Climate Action Programme (CCAP).

A total of €50.9 million is being provided to local authorities from the Climate Action Fund through both phases of the CCAP to support communities, large and small, rural and urban, to decarbonise in a considered and structured way. 17% of this €50.9 million is allocated to administrative purposes that support the cost of resourcing a Community Climate Action Officer in each local authority for each phase. A CCAO has been in position in Cork County since 2023.

In addition to this, all 31 local authorities have their own climate action programmes, spearheaded through their statutory Local Authority Climate Action Plans, that were adopted in 2024. My Department provides a total of €5.8m of dedicated funding to support a Climate Action Coordinator and a Climate Action Officer in every local authority to assist in preparing and implementing these plans. Both a Climate Action Coordinator and a Climate Action Officer have been in position in County Cork since 2023, in addition to the CCAO outlined above.

My Department is also providing €2m in annual funding to the 4 Climate Action Regional Offices (CAROs) to support local authorities to deliver climate actions and to implement their Climate Action Plans. The Atlantic Seaboard South (ASBS) CARO is located within Cork County Council, with the expertise available across the region to all local authorities.