Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We see some parts of the plan falling short. We looked for the sectoral targets and commitments and the governance structure, all of which are welcome. Straight lines of accountability and measurements give us something on which to work. We have to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% at an absolute minimum by 2050. The clock is ticking. With the plan, we should have a minimum of 20% done within the next 18 months, but, obviously, we are not going to do that. By 2030 we are looking at a 20% reduction. That will leave us with a 60% reduction to be achieved within the following 20 years. There was such a thing as the swinging 60s. People refer back to decades in which there were major changes or upheavals. I think the 1970s were supposed to be socialist, although, unfortunately, they were not. We will have a big transition to make in the 2020s. Even allowing for a brown to green revolution in the 2020s, there will be a massive catch-up required in the following 20 years, about which we have huge concerns. I welcome the sectoral targets and governance commitments because for the first time they give us a straight line in terms of accountability and oversight. During the debate on the low carbon climate action Bill five years ago, I pointed out consistently, over and over again, that it was a fatal weakness of that legislation.

On a just transition, I see Portlaoise mentioned in the plan, which is good. It should be a test case or trial for what can be rolled out in other towns. It should go past the two prisons and the two hospitals. There are communities that need to be brought in also.

On the midlands and support for the regional transition team, we have to get away from putting task forces in place when an event is happening or has happened. We have argued from the beginning that we need a just transition commission. A range of things are going to happen. Motor mechanics who have upskilled and completed their apprenticeships will find that their skills will be out of date. Apprentices this year will be okay as most of them will have the required skills. There is Moneypoint, as well as several other places where a transition will be made. I ask the Minister to address that issue.

On retrofits and a just transition which are mentioned in two separate parts of the document, in the midlands and other parts of the country a lot of workers will be affected. On the other hand, we have this great need to do a lot of expensive work in retrofitting. There is the question of financing it. A lot of households do not have the earning capacity, while others that do have it find it is soaked up by childcare and commuting costs and in paying existing mortgages from now until kingdom come. They will not be able to access the €50,000 or €60,000 in finance required to undertake the retrofitting. We need to deal with that issue. These are big challenges for us.

Another challenge is finding the skills and labour required. There are still about 160,000 people unemployed. I do not want this to be taken up the wrong way, but I deal with a lot of foreign workers who are doing fine in working here. They have brought skills and energy, which is all good. However, we do not have houses to house people. We were caught in a perfect financial storm ten years ago and are now caught in a perfect storm in providing housing. We do not have the skilled workers required to build or retrofit them. If we bring in more workers, we will not have places in which to house them. We are caught in a bind. There are probably a number of parts to the solution. I suggest the Oireachtas needs to make a decision on the 160,000 people who are unemployed. We need to decide to train and upskill a section of that workforce. As the Minister said, we have SOLAS. We also have the education and training boards, ETBs, which have been modernised and are working better than the old vocational education committees. We have major training centres, including in the midlands. We need to move ahead to start upskilling those workers to fill the vacancies and carry out the work of retrofitting that will be need to be carried out across the State. We have big semi-State companies, some of which are diversifying. Bord na Móna is going to move towards producing green energy, but that will not replace jobs. The morning I started working in Bord na Móna there were 95 others starting with me. That will not happen in the industries it is moving into. I am not arguing against the changes, which have to be made. However, it has a great history of offering apprenticeships. Some of my family were trained as apprentices in it. It is an area we need to consider as it is a company with a history and the infrastructure to do it.

Biogas is dealt with on page 41 of the document which we received today. The actions include "carry out a public consultation"; "develop and update a feasibility study"; "set a target"; "assess potential impacts"; "consider" and "examine the potential" of something else. It is a little fluffy and does not do the business. I published a microgeneration Bill over a year and a half ago and it is now before the committee. I ask the Government not to hold it up by stating a money message is needed or any other last minute booby trap. We are wide open to amending it. My party brought it forward deliberately to kick start the debate and also to try to get legislation in place. As I said, we are wide open to working with those on the right and the left, in the centre, the Greens, or anyone else to get it moving.

I attended the Committee on Budgetary Oversight meeting yesterday because it was dealing with these issues. I raised issues with the panel in attendance, including Professor John FitzGerald. I am sorry but I forgot to make a point about retrofitting. There is a demand for housing but according to the ESRI, with the current workforce, every nine houses we retrofit results in one less house being built.