Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Ms Donnelly never sees things as a problem but, rather, always as an opportunity, which is why she has been an inspiration to those involved in the semi-transition for many years and has risen to the very top of the public service. Her expertise is very highly regarded. I hope that our State will use it as best it can in tackling the significant challenge it faces. Specific and very practical and useful suggestions have been made. I tend to agree with Ms Donnelly that the key is for the Secretaries General of Departments to meet rather than having an outside body. I am very interested in her reference to the Dutch partnership model, with which I am familiar. We should be pursue a partnership model involving Secretaries General and representatives of the ICTU and IBEC and others because, as Ms Donnelly stated, progress is made when the attention of all is focused on an issue. Ireland can be successful at that because, as Nancy Pelosi said, it is big enough to be significant but small enough to be flexible. It would be possible to get all the relevant parties around a table. Based on the evidence Ms Donnelly has given to the committee, it should outline to Secretaries General that they must have monthly meetings and present quarterly reports in a list rather than essay format. If possible, we should consider adopting the Dutch partnership model. The National Economic and Social Council, NESC, may have already carried out some analysis of that model and its potential application in an Irish context.

The committee or its research team should write to the Secretary General of the Department of Education and Skills to ask why our schools can only be fuelled by fossil fuel heating systems and to clarify how the Department can apply that rule and concurrently teach our children about the importance of the environment in classes such as civic, social and political education, CSPE. How can schools fly a green flag while the Department of Education and Skills states that they may not use a renewable heating system? That is a disgrace. The committee should write to the Secretary General to request an immediate change in that policy.

It should also write to the Secretary General of the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment to ask why the Department, in the context of the consultation process, has put forward a 0.35 coefficient which allows for oil-fired central heating systems rather than a coefficient of 0.25 which I presume would also preclude gas-fired heating. We should write immediately to outline what we have heard today and ask the Secretaries General who will be appearing before the committee and those who will not, such as the Secretary General of the Department of Education and Skills, to explain what we have heard and what are they going to do about it.