1. Mr Irwin asked the Assembly Commission to outline the progress on improving energy efficiency in Parliament Buildings. (AQO 665/22-27)

I thank the Member for his question. The Assembly Commission strives to be an exemplar organisation in sustainable development and has implemented a range of measures to enhance the energy efficiency of Parliament Buildings. Recent projects have included the installation of lower-powered LEDs in the corridors and the Assembly and Senate Chambers. In addition, light sensors have been installed in order to minimise energy usage when required in toilets and other common areas. The Member will be aware that we also replaced the Building's old floodlighting system with a new energy-efficient programmable LED system, and we continue to review the time schedules for all the external lighting that we have control of.

The Assembly Commission sets ambitious targets in energy use and is committed to achieving year-on-year reductions. For the reporting year 2023-24, for example, we managed a 17% reduction in gas usage and a 2% reduction in electricity usage against the baseline year of 2019-2020. The Assembly Commission's sustainable development office works closely with a number of partners to introduce energy-saving solutions and ensure continual improvement in our energy efficiency. One such example is the work with the Department for the Economy on the geothermal technology on the Stormont estate and investigating possible options for heating.

I thank the Member for her response. Is the Member aware of any plans to increase the number of electric charging points at Parliament Buildings?

I do not know offhand of any such plans. That is discussed regularly at our Commission meetings. I am aware that there are not enough of them and that there may be problems with the timings that are allowed for electric chargers. We will definitely take that back to our Commission meetings, and I am sure that other Members will be eager to hear the outcomes of those discussions.