Organisation information
Green Team Annual Report 2025
Published on
Last updated on
Published on
Last updated on
The Green Team operates under its Terms of Reference and Charter. Most of the statutory bodies and relevant units in the Office of the Ombudsman (the Office) are represented on the Green Team. The Office Green Team has also been an active participant on the Green Committee for the building which is chaired by the landlord, IPUT. Only one meeting of that Committee took place in 2025.
The following were members of the Green Team during 2025:
Current members:
• Paul Cassoni (CSU)
• Meg Donnelly (Omb ERU)
• Colette Godkin- SIPO
• Brenda Kador (OIC)
• Aidan Moore (Chair & Secretary) - Executive Unit
• Conor Mulvihill – SIPO
• Karen Roantree (CSU) - Energy Performance Officer & Climate and Sustainability Officer
• Órla Ryan (OCEI)
• Brendan Scanlan (OPDC)
• John Spencer – ICT Unit (Green Team Communications manager)
Members who served on the Green Team in 2025 and who stepped down or retired
• Aisling Burns – Ombudsman
• Alison Connolly – OIC
• Ciarán O’Donohoe – CSU
• Elizabeth Swanwick – OCEI
While the above-named staff are (or were) members of the Green Team, all staff have a responsibility to work together to help the Office to achieve its aims and help reduce the carbon footprint of the Office. The Office is committed to responsible energy management and will strive to efficiently manage and reduce energy consumption and to use energy in a prudent and responsible manner.
To achieve our objectives, the Green Team:
• commits to continual improvement in our energy performance and management
• promotes energy awareness and engagement among staff
• identifies and implements energy efficient measures
• targets a reduction in energy consumption
• ensures green procurement is considered as part of any procurement process including use of the Triple E register
• reviews our objectives and targets and report on energy performance to MAC and staff
• ensures the Office complies with all relevant legal and other requirements
This report is divided into the following sections
• Work Programme/Action Plan
• Communications and Knowledge Sharing
• Procurement
• Climate Action Roadmap
• Energy and Carbon Emissions
• Smarter Travel Mark
• Waste and Recycling
• Use of Paper
• Green Public Procurement
• Travel
• Other matters
The Green Team met on 6 occasions during the course of 2025. An Action Plan had been set for 2025. Many of the actions were central government requirements and required a substantial amount of work. Most of the actions were completed.
An effective communications strategy plays an important role in allowing the Office to create an awareness of green issues and initiatives and is central to enabling us to meet our targets and national climate action commitments. A formal Communications Strategy document was approved by MAC in late 2023 and this has been successfully utilised to promote awareness of green issues and how we can meet our targets; engage with staff to try to influence behaviour and to create a culture of green and sustainable behaviour. A Smarter Travel communications plan was also developed during 2025. The Green Team has assigned responsibility to one of its members for implementing the Communications Strategy and the Smarter Travel communications plan.
The main communication methods are:
• Intranet articles – A number of news and information items were published on the staff Intranet during the course of the year. Unfortunately on 11 December 2025, our Office was the subject of a random cybersecurity attack on some of its IT systems. As a result of this attack, the staff Intranet on which we relied on to disseminate information is no longer available. An internal information sharing system will be re-established in the near future and the Green Team will use this system to exchange news and information items. In the meantime we will use other methods to keep staff informed of Green Team and Climate Action developments.
• The Green Team make regular presentations to MAC on the work of the Committee and progress against the Green Team Action Plan. The Green Team had also been providing quarterly updates to MAC on how the Office was progressing against its energy efficiency targets. The source of this information was access to a smart metering feature which had been provided by IPUT. IPUT changed service provider, however, during 2024 and it wasn’t until the last quarter of 2025 that access to the new service provider’s system and our energy usage figures was restored. The Green Team resumed providing updates to MAC on our energy usage.
• The Green Team prepares an annual workshop on a climate related issue which is delivered at the staff biannual. A workshop on Carbon Basics had been prepared for the December 2025 bi-annual. The bi-annual did not go ahead due to extenuating circumstances. General presentations on the aims and achievements of the Green Team are also given at Induction training and Transition Year Programmes. The Induction training provides a platform for the Green Team to share the importance of green measures to our staff, to provide a background on our obligations in terms of targets and reporting and that meeting these targets is the responsibility of all staff.
• The Green Team has recently published a Smarter Travel Communications Plan which provides for the promotion of cycling and shared mobility. The aim of the plan is to promote sustainable and active travel across our office.
• Notices are placed around the building on green themes such as energy use and correct recycling measures. During 2024 and again in 2025 the Green Team continued to provide information to staff on what can be recycled and what can go in the food compost bins. There has been a steady improvement in staff disposing of their waste correctly.
• The Office signed up to the SEAI and OPW Reduce Your Use campaign for winter 2025/26. This is an energy awareness campaign for staff which is aimed at reducing energy use during the winter months. It also encourages staff to adopt measures that will assist them in reducing energy at home.
A relatively small number of our staff are engaged in procurement with ICT Products & Services by far the most significant area. All staff involved in procurement have been made aware of the importance of considering Green Public Procurement measures in procurement. In July 2025 the Government published updated Green Public Procurement Instructions for Public Sector Bodies ( Circular 17/2025 . All tenders valued in excess of €50,000 (ex VAT) must include GPP Criteria as part of the tender documentation. An extensive note capturing the requirements of Circular 17/2025 which are relevant to our Office was prepared in November 2024 and was provided to all staff engaged in procurement in the Office. The Corporate Procurement Plan already contains some guidance on Green Procurement requirements but it will need to be updated to reflect the requirements of Circular 17/2025. The Office procurement checklist will also need to be updated to reflect the requirements of Circular 17/2025.
Most ICT Procurement is carried out through OGP Frameworks. The Frameworks reflect the Government’s Green Public Procurement Strategy, including the requirement that a minimum of 80% of ICT end user products, procured by public bodies under new contract arrangements, are certified to EPEAT gold standard. Where ICT procure hardware, peripherals or other ICT equipment, it always considers the green procurement element to see if a more sustainable product can be accessed which will not lead to significant increases in cost or expose the office to risks associated with the devices not being supported in a medium to long term use window. As part of the preparation of our CAR, ICT carried out a review of the OGP frameworks used by the Office. All mobile, laptop, hybrid and tablet devices used by the Office are EPEAT Gold and TCO certified.
One of the requirements arising from the government’s Climate Action Plan 2021 is that public bodies prepare a Climate Action Roadmap (CAR). The purpose of the CAR is to set out how the Office will meet the targets set out in the government’s Climate Action Mandate, including our plans to reduce energy related emissions from our operations in line with the Climate Action Plan 2024. This is a living document the latest of which was approved by MAC on 22nd October 2025 and has been published on our Office website here Climate Action Roadmap . In performing all of its functions, the Office acts, in so far as practicable, in a manner consistent with our CAR.
An Energy Policy for the Office was prepared by the Green Team and approved by MAC in 2023. The Policy outlines how the Office uses a combination of energy efficiency audits, SEAI guidance, Smart Energy Metering, staff awareness campaigns, DEC ratings and other centralised guidance to frame its Energy Policy. It outlines the Office policy on Green procurement, air conditioning/heating, lighting and transport with a central focus on assisting the Office in meeting our government targets.
As our energy spend is in the under €250k category we are classified as a small organisation. Our energy management body/system is appropriate to the size of our organisation, as set out in SEAI’s guide to Demonstrating Exemplar Energy Management. We are implementing energy management programmes appropriate to the size of our organisation as per SEAI’s energy management guidance.
The energy efficiency targets for our Office have been set as follows:
• 50% energy efficiency savings target for the public sector by 2030 - Government Climate Action Plan 2024.
• Annual energy saving target of a 3% reduction based on 2022 consumption - 2022 Energy Efficiency Audit (EEA).
SEAI provides a scorecard for each organisation based upon reports submitted through the SEAI Monitor and Reporting System. These figures are also published in a public sector annual report. The most recent report was published in 2025 and reports on energy usage in the public sector in 2024.
The baseline for energy efficiency savings targets is energy use in 2009. Our total final energy consumption in 2009 was 331,840 kWh. Our total final energy consumption in 2025 was 169,950kWh which was a 14% increase on the 2024 figure (148,700 kWh). Our move to a new more energy efficient premises in December 2019 means that our energy efficiency target is not as challenging as for other public sector bodies. The 2025 figure shows that our energy performance in 2025 was a 49% improvement on the baseline level (a reduction, however, on the 2024 performance of 55%). We will need to be vigilant to ensure that our energy usage does not continue to increase and to ensure that our energy usage in the target year of 2030 is within the 50% reduction target.
In 2023 and the earlier part of 2024, the Office used a smart energy monitoring system to monitor our energy use. As stated earlier we did not have access to the system for most of 2025 as the landlord changed service provider and there was a delay in gaining access to the new system.
Our air conditioning system presents unique challenges in winter and summer as the outside temperature has a significant impact on the level of energy used. There have been constant problems with the system since we moved into this building. Building 6 ground floor has been particularly problematic. During 2025 OPW finally agreed that the system was defective and that the main air conditioning needs to be replaced. While awaiting this new unit a limited number of selected units had to be permanently set to a temperature to run 24/7 for a period of 2 months, which resulted in very high energy usage. This was outside our control and could not be scheduled.
The EEA identified a comprehensive programme of measures which could be taken to increase energy efficiency. The Green Team considered the audit report and identified actions required to meet the 23 recommendations contained therein. Some of the recommendations had already been implemented and those not implemented were formulated into an action plan which has by and large been delivered.
One of the recommendations was the introduction of an annual internal energy efficiency target of 3% set against a 2022 baseline. The target is challenging given that the 2022 baseline was a year in which there was reduced occupancy in the Office and, therefore, a reduced energy demand. In addition to problems with the air-conditioning system another challenge in terms of making savings is that we operate in a modern building where it can be difficult to identify savings.
The EEA identified the issue of scheduling as a means by which we could reduce our energy usage. Scheduling was being carried out daily by Corporate Services Unit in an effort to provide a balance between comfort of staff and our energy usage targets. Savings were previously achieved with regard to turning the system off on days in which staff members aren’t on-site (e.g. weekends, holidays) and by defaulting the heat to off in all offices and meeting rooms. These savings kept us on track to meet the 3% year on year target. As access to our energy data has only recently been restored the Green Team cannot advise whether we are still in this position. With access to energy data now restored we will need to monitor energy usage closely again and identify other opportunities to reduce our energy usage.
Significant energy efficiencies have been realised by our ICT Unit. All desktop computers in our Office were previously replaced with more energy efficient laptops and a further Office upgrade to laptops with greater energy efficiency earlier this year should achieve further savings. The outsourcing of many of our support functions to OGCIO resulted in less hardware having to be run on-site and consequently less energy requirements for the ICT Comms room. The EEA had recommended increasing the server room temperature from 19C to 23C. ICT had previously advised that it would not be possible to increase the temperature in the server room to this level. Following the reduction in on-site hardware the Green Team asked ICT to revisit the EEA recommendation. The temperature in the Server Room has now been increased by 0.5 degrees. ICT advise that further increases are not currently possible, as higher temperatures risk damaging equipment and may trigger cooling fans that would offset any energy gains.
In accordance with S.I. 243 of 2012 the Office employed a consultant to carry out a DEC rating for the building in 2025. A rating of B3 was obtained. This was an improvement on our previous rating of C1. The accompanying Advisory Report also contained three recommendations which the report stated could reduce our energy usage and costs. These recommendations were similar to those in the 2024 Advisory Report. They had previously been considered by the Green Team and action is being taken in relation to the recommendation on monitoring energy usage. Recommendations relating to daylight controls and solar panels are not regarded as feasible to implement.
The Climate Action Mandate 2024 requires each public body to review their office space requirements from an energy saving perspective. OPW carried out a survey in December 2024 in which they looked at occupancy levels. The Green Team also carried out a review in 2024. This review resulted in a document entitled “Energy Savings Proposals to go to MAC” which contained a number of recommendations. This was approved in principle by MAC and the recommendation to default the heat to off in all offices and meeting rooms was implemented immediately with very positive results. The other main recommendation was to close certain areas on Friday’s, which are typically low occupancy days, and for staff to move to a particular area. The POs consulted with their staff on this proposal and it was suggested that the matters raised be considered by the Office Council. The Green Team has received no further feedback on these proposals.
The Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment wrote to all public bodies in 2025 providing information on the updated Energy Efficiency Directive. This Directive places an obligation for the whole public sector to achieve an “absolute energy consumption” reduction of 1.9% each year (based on 2021 usage). This 1.9% reduction will again be more challenging as it is also set against a baseline year where COVID-related low occupancy levels led to a lower than normal energy usage.
The target for the public sector is a 51% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030. The SEAI have set baseline levels for each body which are individually based on 2016-2018 average energy related C02 emissions. The baseline for this office is 142,610.82 kgCO2 and the target set for our Office is 30,716 kgCO2. Again the baseline level predates the move by our Office to a more energy efficient building in 2019. While our previous building had a gas-powered heating system our current system is electricity powered and we do not, therefore, use fossil fuels anymore. SEAI’s Gap to Target model for our Office shows that our total C02 emissions in 2025 was 38,452.6 kgCO2. This was a reduction on our 2024 figure (39,351.8 kgCO2) of 2.3%. To achieve this target, total CO2 must reduce by another 20.1% from our 2025 level within 5 years. Our (C02) emissions are closely related to our energy efficiency and we need to be vigilant with regard to energy efficiency.
The Smarter Travel Mark, a National Transport Agency initiative, is an award system that assesses bodies commitment to changing attitudes and behaviours regarding walking, cycling and public transport usage by implementing measures that facilitate, support and encourage sustainable travel options for our staff and visitors.
In 2023, the Office applied for and achieved a Smarter Travel Bronze Mark. During 2025 the Green Team reviewed requirements to see if there is scope for further improvement. A Smarter Travel Communications plan was agreed and information regarding sustainable travel options for visitors was published on our websites. Our building has very good facilities to accommodate healthier travel options such as cycling or walking and the Green Team encourages staff to make use of these facilities. Rewarding car-pooling through the Wayleader App has also been considered but was not regarded as feasible.
IPUT contracts for disposal of waste from the building. All waste from the building goes into a communal waste room. IPUT does not provide any means of distinguishing between the waste/recycling rates of individual occupants and the only usage statistics we receive are for the building as a whole. IPUT had set a 75% recycling target for 2024 for the 2 buildings in their entirety. In 2025 total Waste Streams for the building were 47 tonnes – an increase of 35.94 tonnes (325%) on 2024. General waste made up 54% of the total while 46% was recycled.
The Green Team drafted and got MAC approval for a Strategy for Effective Waste Recycling in 2024 which has been rolled out. The strategy was published on the Office Intranet and notified to all staff. During 2025 the Green Team again promoted awareness among staff to use the correct bins and to reduce waste as far as possible and there is a continued improvement in staff using the correct bins. The fact that organic waste for the building increased by 29% may reflect better separation of food/compostables throughout the Office.
The Green team also produced a document in 2024 aimed at the elimination of disposable cups, plates and cutlery and the introduction of an Environmental Policy on Catering Supplies. Staff who are involved in ordering catering were notified of the contents of the policy and further general advice was provided to staff on the importance of phasing out the use of disposable items. To support the Office’s green agenda, a stock of compostable cups was purchased and is available for use in larger meetings. The Office has a supply of crockery and cutlery which is available for use in smaller meetings. Provision of catering for events must adhere to the policy and to sustainable and eco-friendly standards.
Single use disposable items are also excluded from procurement lists. The policy was published on the Office intranet and all staff, and in particular staff involved in the procurement of catering supplies, are aware of the policy. During 2025 the Green Team carried out a review of single-use items within the Office. No single-use items were identified as being in use. An Office notice issued in November 2025 advising that no single-use disposable items should be procured for Office purposes.
A Re-turn bin was also installed in the canteen for staff to place unwanted plastic bottles and aluminium cans to ensure that they get recycled. These bottles and cans are collected by a staff member and are used towards children’s sports activities.
In accordance with the Climate Action Mandate (and our 2024 CAR) a system was introduced early in 2025 whereby waste on food brought in for meetings and events is monitored. Following each event at which food was ordered the individual who ordered the food carries out a review of the order, identifies whether food waste occurred or not and adjusts future orders accordingly. A report is also provided to a nominated member of the Green Team outlining the meeting/event, the approximate percentage of waste and any resulting action taken with regard to future orders. The Office also reviewed EPA’s guidance for measuring and reducing food waste to see if any changes need to be made to our system. Very little food waste arises from events which take place in our Office. We are satisfied that the system we have in place meets our requirements.
In 2025, there were 209,963 pages printed which was an increase of 6.7% on 2024 levels (196,861) pages). 815kg of waste paper was collected for shredding in 2025. SIPO had the highest level of paper usage at 75,833 pages (36.1%). Digitizing returns furnished to SIPO will further reduce our paper usage. The Office received funding to run a proof of concept project for this in 2026. We will continue to monitor our paper usage and the amount and cost of waste paper collected for shredding.
Our paper is sourced through an OGP Framework and a contract is in place until May 2029. The Framework specifies that all paper supplied by this contract is manufactured from 100% recycled fibres and aligns with the target set out in the Climate Action Plan.
A Travel Policy for the Office was prepared by the Green Team and approved by MAC in 2024. The policy amalgamated previous policies and ensures that all staff involved in business travel are aware of the impact of certain forms of transport on the environment as well as outlining reporting and approval requirements for business travel.
The Office is required to adhere to national reporting requirements for travel on the SEAI Monitoring and Reporting system. This outlines in detail all business travel undertaken by the Office, including road, rail and air travel. This has been extended to include travel by public transport. Our returns are up to date with the next return due on 8th May 2026.
Circular 01/2020 requires public bodies to record carbon emissions associated with official air travel and to pay an amount equivalent to the travel emissions impact into the Climate Action Fund. The circular also requires public bodies to appraise, monitor and ensure only essential air travel is undertaken and that the number of officers on any official journey is kept to an absolute minimum.
There were 7 official journeys by air taken by staff during 2025, involving a total of 10,206 kilometres. This resulted in an estimated 1.13 tonnes of C02 at a cost of €63.50 per tonne resulting in a total payment of €71.76 to the Climate Action Fund for 2024.
The Office currently has a contract in place for indoor cleaning services which is due to expire in November 2026. When tendering for any new such contract the Office must include a requirement to specify the training which will be put in place to ensure that all staff involved in the delivery of the contract will have the knowledge and skills to apply cleaning methods which will reduce the environmental impact of the cleaning services.
The most recent Climate Action Mandate included a requirement for 10% organic food in all requests for refreshments. The Office has a supplier, selected through a competitive tendering process, for the purpose of providing refreshments, when appropriate, for meetings, training sessions and other Office events. The supplier’s website states that they source their product from local and organic farmers. The 10% organic food requirement should be included in all requests for refreshments. Members of staff who order refreshments have been made aware of this requirement.
The Office was required to enter its details on the Building Register in 2023 as part of the Monitoring and Recording (M&R) system. SEAI gathers details on the type, fabric, repair, age and heating systems of public buildings. The system provides data on energy use of buildings across the public sector. This information will be updated and verified for 2025 before 8th May 2026.
IPUT has provided air quality monitors in each of the 4 main locations within the Office. These provide data on air quality in the form of monthly reports and recommendations which are reviewed. Once again in 2025, overall, it was found that the air quality was good in the Office.