Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 December 2025
133. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment the way in which his Department is supporting local authorities to deliver on their climate action plans, particularly in rural and coastal areas vulnerable to climate impacts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [72012/25]
View answerIn 2022, my Department approved funding for local authorities to develop climate action plans. Almost €19m has been paid over 2022–2025 to fund climate action teams in local authorities, with annual funding of €5.815m continuing until 2028.
My Department provides €2m in annual funding to four Climate Action Regional Offices which support local authorities to deliver climate actions. It funds the Local Authority Climate Action Training Programme (€500,000 p.a.) to upskill staff and elected members in local authorities. Atlantic Seaboard North CARO is particularly focused on risks to coastal counties and has been leading several projects in that regard.
Each local authority identified a Decarbonising Zone (DZ) as part of its climate action plan. This is a spatial area where the local authority works with the community to test climate measures. We worked with the Northern and Western Regional Assembly to set up a DZ fund (€2.5m ERDF) for local authorities in that region, which is now live. This is open to nine counties, six of which are coastal.
My Department has developed a proposal, through the EU JTF Programme, to invest significant funds into the wider Midlands region to support Local Authorities as they implement their Climate Action Plans. The proposal, approved by Government, is due for submission to the European Commission this week for its review and adoption.
In addition, my Department has been working with Cork, Dublin and Galway (three coastal cities) in the EU Climate Neutral and Smart Cities Mission, which aims to make 100 European cities climate neutral by 2030.
Actions in the local authority sector form part of a whole of Government collaborative response underpinned by the 2024 National Adaptation Framework, the National Climate Change Risk Assessment, and the new iteration of Sectoral Adaptation Plans approved by Government in November. All of these are informed by data from Met Éireann.
My Department coordinates and supports the implementation process though meetings of the National Adaptation Steering Committee, and I recently approved a new Adaptation Taskforce which, from January, will help to address crosscutting issues.
