Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 June 2026
120. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment when he expects to open a new round of the community climate action fund; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47105/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am very supportive of the Community Climate Action Programme (CCAP) and have seen first hand how it supports and empowers communities to shape and build low carbon, sustainable communities in a coherent way. Importantly, the EPA Climate Change in the Irish Mind Survey (funded by my Department) shows that 90% of Irish people accept the evidence of climate change and 80% are worried about its impact. Furthermore over 80% care about climate action and want to support it, so it is important to help our communities to do that.
The latest phase of the programme is providing a total of €29.5 million to local authorities to support communities across the country in delivering locally led climate action projects. Given that the demand for funding far exceeded the original allocation, in May I allocated an additional €2.6 million from the Climate Action Fund to the programme.
The CCAP has given opportunities to hundreds of groups around the country to access funding that directly benefits their communities. Many positive impacts have come out of the programme including reduction of energy costs, stimulating active travel, biodiversity enhancement and wildlife restoration.
The projects successful in receiving funding in the current phase of the programme were announced in May 2026. This phase will see funding being provided from the Climate Action Fund to all local authorities to partner with community groups to run 820 projects that will contribute to national climate and energy targets.
My Department is undertaking a review exercise to establish how community-based climate action projects can be most successfully implemented. This will take account of best practice in other jurisdictions, as well as data collected from recipients of previous rounds of CCAP funding and our local authority partners. I have asked my officials to carry this work out as quickly as possible with a view to informing future policy and funding decisions.
