98. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment the steps his Department is taking to resolve the match funding barriers that have prevented community and local authority projects from progressing, particularly in County Offaly. [66499/26]

My Department funds several climate action programmes which enable community and local authority projects to progress and which do not have match funding barriers.

My Department allocates €5.8m annually to local authorities to develop and implement their Local Authority Climate Action Plans (LA CAPs). This funding provides two climate posts in each local authority (a Climate Action Coordinator and Climate Action Officer) to develop and implement the plans. Collectively there are almost 4,000 actions across the plans which include actions to progress community and local authority projects. To date, €848,477 has been allocated to Offaly County Council to develop and implement their LA CAP.

Since 2018, €2m in annual funding has been allocated to the four Climate Action Regional Offices (CAROs), and this budget increased to €2.4m in 2026. The CAROs support local authorities to deliver climate action and to implement their LA CAPs including the delivery of local authority and community climate action projects. Offaly County Council is served by the Eastern and Midlands CARO.

The Climate Action Fund (CAF) has provided €56.1m in funding to date through Strand 1 of the Community Climate Action Fund (CCAP) over two phases. This allows community organisations to partner with local authorities to deliver climate action and contribute to our national climate and energy targets. Up to 100% of funding may be provided through this programme.

This year, my Department announced a new Decarbonising Zones (DZ) Demonstrator Fund of €1.8m in 2026 to assist local authorities in delivering local projects in their DZ. A DZ is a spatial area identified by a local authority in which a range of climate measures are identified and addressed. Offaly County Council has been allocated €56,500 under the DZ Demonstrator Fund to deliver climate projects and engagement activities in the Tullamore DZ. There are no match funding requirements to access this funding.

My Department also announced the new START scheme (Supporting a Sustainable Transition through Climate Action for a Resilient Territory) to support local authorities in the EU Just Transition Territory, including Offaly, to implement infrastructure and feasibility studies associated with strategic actions contained in their LA CAPs. Local authorities are also able to partner with community organisations to deliver projects. Under START, €30m in funding will be announced imminently, with no match funding requirements to access this funding.