Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 2 October 2019

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action

Citizen and Community Measures: Discussion

Mr. Paul Kenny:

I might come in on the climate plan. It is very welcome to hear the number "15". That is a good idea. The climate plan is comprehensive and it is great to see it all down with a wish list of what we need to do. There are 186 actions with many sub-actions but there are not staff and capacity to deliver that plan. I, and people like me in other organisations, do not have confidence that the climate plan will be delivered in a timely fashion because there are not enough people in the Department to do it. There is insufficient vision to deliver it and there is insufficient coherence on the delivery of the climate plan. While a significant and robust plan is there, on which the Minister must be commended, it will take 20 years to deliver given the current capacity of the Civil Service.

During the discussion, one tiny point was missed. The community benefit funds are not currently exempt from taxation. When we talk about someone being impacted by a turbine, they will, right now, lose a great deal of that to the tax system. The committee might consider whether it would be useful to figure out methods on the €2 per MW hour and that community benefit fund at local level. If it is applied to someone's electricity bill, he or she will have to pay 50% if he or she is an earner at over €35,000. It is a real issue for developers and those who want to see a benefit fund that they will lose most of it to the tax system.

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