Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will follow up on my previous question around the advisory council and that hierarchy around the climate scientists. Can Mr. Carroll confirm that the advisory council will operate on a one person, one vote basis, that with all these sectoral interests the climate scientists will still have only one vote and the other sectors will also have one vote?

Given that Deputy Smith referred to the state of the alphabet of choices the Minister can have regard to, there is an opportunity that, perhaps, some of the sectoral interests could be put into that part of the Bill and we can narrow down the advisory council to look at the climate science and then the Minister can advise.

I am aware Mr. Carroll referred to elements of public participation in the Bill and that he took on board the Citizens' Assembly outcome. The first point of the Citizens' Assembly, which 97% supported, was around public participation. I do not see that call reflected in this Bill because, again, the Minister can take regard of or may consult with the public. With local authorities and public participation, we are aware our local authorities are devoid of any powers really and by the time it gets to them the job is done at central government. Therefore, we need to have greater public participation at the central government element of it. That would reflect what the Supreme Court said which is that citizens' rights are to fully engage and to have transparency in climate action.