FDB ENERGY ACTION TEAM

The Board established an Energy Action Team in March 2006 to promote greater energy awareness and efficiency in the county, to promote sustainable energy practices and use of renewable energy resources.

Energy Action Template from "Strategy into Action 2006-2008"

Team Membership

Cllr. David Healy, (Fingal County Council, Chair of the Environmental Strategic Policy Committee)
Gilbert Power (Fingal County Council, Director of Environmental Services Deptartment)
Jeanne Deegan (Rural Dublin LEADER Co. Ltd)

Outcomes of 2006

• The Team met five times in 2006: April, May, October, November and December.
• In view of the pivotal role played by the local authority in energy usage as housing providers, as planners in encouraging energy efficiency in design, and as intensive energy users the Team decided to initially focus on energy usage within Fingal County Council.
• To assist it in its task of preparing a case for the setting up of a dedicated Energy Unit within Fingal County Council the Team engaged the Dublin City Energy Agency, Codema, to do a scoping Energy Report on energy usage in the Council and to look at what short to medium term actions could be taken in relation to sustainable energy use in the Council. The report is due in early 2007.
• The Chair of the Team, Cllr. David Healy was asked to address the Sustainable Energy Ireland I "See the Light 2006" Conference in September 2006. The text of Cllr. David Healy's address is available at www.fdb.ie.
• The Action Team (on behalf of the FDB) submitted a response to the Department of the Marine, Communications and Natural Resources Green Paper "Towards a Sustainable Energy Future in Ireland". The Team's response focuses on energy efficiency and renewable energy production and asks what the role the Government envisages for public sector bodies such as local authorities and County/City Development Boards.

A full text of the submission is available Green Paper "Towards a Sustainable Energy Future for Ireland" (December 2006)

Issue

The involvement of Fingal County Council staff on this project has been a key strength and their support in allocating resources to the project must be acknowledged. However, the scale and complexity of the issue calls for a cross sector, cohesive multi lateral approach which has been absent up to now.

For further information please contact George Curran by email or at (01) 890 50955.