Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Climate Action Roadmap 2024

The Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (DFHERIS) was established in July 2020. The Department was formed to create an inclusive learning and innovation society where every person is able to reach their full potential. The Department will develop Ireland’s tertiary education, training and research to support people to reach their full potential and create a prosperous, sustainable and vibrant society, ready to meet the challenges of a changing world. The Department operates from three locations, St. Stephen’s Green and Marlborough Street in Dublin and Tullamore, Co. Offaly.

As of August 2024, the St. Stephen’s Green location has 78 staff members. The building is on the listed building register and is operated as part of a wider campus involving shared resources with the connected buildings occupied by the Department of Justice. The Marlborough Street office has 127 staff, and these areas share resources with the Department of Education. The Tullamore office has 72 staff members and is also part of a larger campus with the Department of Education as well as a number of other public bodies.

As well as ensuring compliance with the public sector mandate as a corporate body, the Department has a significantly wider remit in delivering climate action.

There are four key pillars to DFHERIS and the wider sector’s climate activities which reflect national policy. The four pillars are as follows;

• Green Skills Provision;
• Climate Research and Innovation;
• Climate Literacy and Education for Sustainable Development and
• Decarbonisation of the Tertiary estate.

However, Climate Action and Sustainability is not limited to the policy sections owning these areas of responsibility. It is everybody’s business to help Ireland meet its climate objective. Steps are being taken to embed Climate Action and Sustainability in all units within the Department, through the business planning process for 2024 and the implementation of the Public Sector mandate.