Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 88:

In page 11, to delete lines 36 to 39, and in page 12, to delete lines 1 to 3 and substitute the following: "(9) The Government shall submit the draft of the climate action plan submitted to them under subsection (4) or a national long term climate action strategy submitted to them under subsection (7) for the approval of each House of the Oireachtas before it is published.".

The amendment is pretty self-explanatory. While I fully accept the overall thrust behind the legislation and the need for it, in some ways I am envious of the Minister, Deputy Ryan, being able to get a Bill such as this through. It is imperative, for all of the arguments that have been made by committee members during the previous two sessions and this morning, that there is recourse to the national Parliament on all of these targets and their implementation.

Deputies Whitmore, O'Rourke and Nolan spoke earlier about the need for a just transition. That needs to be reflected in the implementation of this legislation. However, there is no mechanism for the Dáil to review its implementation on an ongoing basis. There is a reporting mechanism back to the committee and provision for consideration and consultation with the committee but there is no formal ratification process once this legislation is enacted in terms of the five-year targets and, more importantly, with respect to the sectoral implementation plans.

The Chairman and his colleagues published a report last week on how we could reach a 51% reduction in transport emissions between now and 2030 and he is to be commended on that. If, however, what the Government is saying and has consistently said in terms of agriculture is accurate, the 51% reduction in emissions within the transport sector falls far short of what will be required. I do not know what the sectoral targets will be. We should have that level of clarity before we enact this legislation but at a minimum, that should come back before Dáil Éireann for ratification. That is a specific provision in my later amendments, which we will consider when we reach them. However, this amendment proposes that the climate plan would have to be formally adopted by Dáil Éireann. This climate plan must take into account, as set out in the legislation, both the national planning framework and the national spatial strategy, both of which must be approved by Dáil Éireann, yet the climate plan does not have to be formally approved by Dáil Éireann.

We can talk about all the big bold measures we like but, realistically, we must bring the public and our citizens with us along that road if we are to turn around the challenge we face of global warming. That is the one aspect of this debate that sadly has been lacking for a long time. Legislating the National Parliament out of the approval and ratification process will further alienate the public, cause them to disengage and lead to reactions to measures, rather than people acting in solidarity to achieve the overall objective. I ask the Minister and colleagues to support this amendment.