Mr. Andrew Jackson:

I will take the questions in turn. The Senator mentioned the programme for Government commitment to reduce emissions by 7% per annum and asked how carbon budgets could be made consistent with that policy aim. It is an interesting issue and it strikes at an issue at the heart of the Bill. In principle, the Bill suggests that the Climate Change Advisory Council will be responsible, independently, for proposing carbon budgets. However, the programme for Government states what the Government plans to do for the next ten years. The question I would put to the committee is: how do those two things fit together? We are asking the Climate Change Advisory Council to propose budgets independently, but it knows what the Government wants to do for the next ten years. As to how one can ensure legally that the budgets are consistent with a science-based reduction trajectory that will help to limit warming to 1.5°C, it is easy to insert strong language in the Bill to that effect, for example, "must be consistent with".

The second question was about putting duties on Ministers and public bodies.

My central idea here would be to include in section 15 a general obligation on all public bodies and organs of the State to exercise their functions compatibly with the objectives of the UN framework convention and the Paris Agreement. It could be modelled, for example, on section 3(1) of the European Convention on Human Rights Act 2003, which requires organs of the State to exercise their functions compatibly with the human rights enshrined in that convention. That would be a very powerful general obligation to impose, and there are other examples in Irish law, such as the context of the habitats directive, where it has also been done.