Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

We have waited a couple of years for the legislation and then it will be a couple of years after that before the actual mechanisms will be put in place to deliver. We are losing four years but the targets are not standing still. In fact, the 2030 targets are going to be even more unachievable by virtue of the fact that we are delaying the implementation. That should be a major concern for all of us. There will be financial obligations but there is also a moral obligation to meet our commitments.

I completely accept that Ireland has a different profile to other countries, particularly those which are heavily industrialised. Those countries have different difficulties to us in the sense that they must work to mitigate some of the effects of industrial pollution. I can visualise a Minister in 2030 saying that the targets were never reachable by virtue of the fact that we have given ourselves such a limited amount of time to meet them.

As a matter of interest, why is this motion being put before the Dáil now? Why was this not done well before now? It seems like now is the 11th hour and it may well be thus because we have not got the legislation in place and have dragged our feet on it.

We are putting an expert group in place now. I realise that the Minister is barely five minutes in office but we went out and negotiated in the absence of expert advice which, as the Minister has pointed out, is needed if we are going to put the proper systems and policies in place to achieve our targets. Why are these processes not happening in parallel rather than in sequence? I have major concerns about us actually reaching our 2030 targets if we keep on delaying the process.