Irish Government promotes Energy Performance Contracting

15th September 2025

The Minister for Climate, Energy and Environment recently issued a letter to public sector CEOs concerning their obligation to promote and ensure the use of Energy Performance Contracting (EPCs) where technically and economically feasible. The below blogpost by Dr Sean Travers explains this letter and its relevance to the EasyPro project.

The Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment’s letter to public sector CEOs

Darragh O’Brien, the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment, sent a letter to public sector CEOs regarding decarbonisation and the 2030 objective for public bodies to improve energy efficiency by 50% and reduce their energy-related greenhouse gas emissions. The letter reminds public bodies to report their overall energy performance to the SEAI via their Monitoring and Reporting system, which helps organisations understand their energy consumption, target areas for improvement and enable comparison with the progress of other public bodies in achieving targets.

The letter highlights that while a progress of 34.9% has been made on the energy efficiency target of 50%, the sector is not on track to reach the 51% greenhouse gas emissions 2030 target.

New EU Directives: Energy Performance Contracting

In this letter, Darragh O’Brien also informs public sector CEOs of new EU Directives which have implications for public bodies, the first of which is Directive 2023/1791, the updated Energy Efficiency Directive. This Directive contains specific requirements for the public sector, including: an absolute energy consumption reduction each year of 1.9%; an annual renovation of at least 3% of the total floor area of buildings owned by public bodies to nearly zero-energy buildings or zero-emission buildings; and, most significantly, to promote and ensure, where technically and economically feasible, the use of Energy Performance Contracting (EPC) for the renovation of large buildings owned by public bodies. O’Brien adds that there will be a need public bodies must assess the feasibility of using EPC and other performance-based energy services.

While such new requirements on public bodies regarding the built environment may appear complex, the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications together with SEAI are analysing the implications of these requirements on the public with a view to setting these out comprehensively prior to further engagement.

O’Brien adds that the implementation of the new Directives, with the increased obligations on public bodies, requires a reinvigoration of the role of the Energy Performance Officer (EPO), and informs public sector CEOs that the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications will proactively engage with them. He concludes the letter by highlighting the ‘Reduce Your Use’ campaign for public sector bodies, the purpose of which is to ensure that public sector bodies manage energy use and implement actions that reduce energy consumption in their organisation.

EasyPro

EasyPro will help public bodies, specifically Irish universities, to meet their Climate Action 2030 targets. Our EPC facilitation service will help universities assess the technical and economic feasibility of using EPC. We are working with universities’ Buildings and Estates Offices to ensure their university buildings meet all requirements and guide them through EPC from beginning to end, reducing the costs and complexities of process. This letter from Darragh O’Brien is a welcome confirmation of the Irish government is in line with our project’s goals.