Malcolm Byrne (Wicklow-Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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282. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the measures in place to support schools in transitioning to using renewable sources of energy. [62618/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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My department is leading an ambitious sustainability agenda and has progressed a wide array of measures to improve the overall sustainability of our school buildings as part of our work towards 2030 and 2050 climate targets. This performance has been recognised at both National and International level with sustainable energy awards for excellence in design, specification and delivery. My departments policy is supported by a strong research programme with fifty-six research programmes at various stages.

It is a priority for Government to deliver on Ireland’s ambitious climate agenda and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in line with the department’s which was published in 2023 and updated in 2024.

This roadmap highlights the need for a flexible and tailored approach to the decarbonisation of the school sector to enable the school sector to meet the required targets. The principal challenge lies in the area of decarbonisation of heating with renewable heating systems and to improve the energy performance of schools that were built at a time when fuel was plentiful, relatively cheap and technology and material choices were not as advanced as today. The roadmap has been developed based on one of the core principles of the pathfinder programmes, namely taking a progressive approach, where investments made do not require dismantling /removal within their lifespan.

The measures currently in place to support the school sector transitioning to using renewable sources of energy center on the following key areas:

• Decarbonisation of new school building projects entering design under the School Building Programme.
• Completion of the School Energy Profile Inventory to establish the energy base line of the school estate enabling targeting and evaluating optimum choices for efficient and effective energy investment.
• Expansion of the Pathfinder Decarbonisation Programme which is evaluating and demonstrating the approach to energy efficiency and carbon reduction in the school sector with energy efficiency solutions and renewable heat technologies, including maximising renewable heating options in existing schools by transitioning high carbon fossil fuel towards renewable heating.
• Delivering the Climate Action Focused Summer Works Programme to progress climate action specific initiatives.
• Completion of rollout of 6 kW Photovoltaic Panels in schools, funded under the Climate Action Fund.