Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 9 June 2021

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment

Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (Resumed)

Photo of Ossian SmythOssian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputies for their contributions. As legislators, we decide the line that is drawn between what is an Executive action and what is an action for the Oireachtas and this is part of what is happening in respect of drawing up this Bill. What this Bill does is set a very clear target. As Deputy Naughten said, the 2015 Act was inadequate. This is trying to address that. I welcome the fact that we are all trying to achieve the same thing here. By setting that target, that is the strategy and objective that must be achieved. What then happens is that the Executive is the operational body that must carry out the actions to achieve that target. It is not for the Oireachtas at that point to intervene in the Executive actions. There is a reason why we have an Executive and a reason why we have a Legislature. They are two different bodies and they each have different functions.

Deputy Naughten referred to a hypothetical future where a Minister arrives who has a very low degree of ambition and either brings along a carbon budget that will not achieve anything or is opposed to the whole idea of climate action. What would happen in that case? How could the Oireachtas stop that Minister? That is what this law does. That is what this Bill is doing. It brings in a requirement for the Government to comply with international obligations and meet that 51% target. It is justiciable. It is something in respect of which one can go to court if the Government is not meeting the obligations it is required to meet under the Bill. Those are the two levers. In fact, we are more strengthened in our position than we would be. Of course, it is always open to a future Dáil to amend or repeal the legislation because at the end of the day, the Oireachtas is the body that makes those decisions but the Executive must be allowed to perform the actions once the targets have been set and for once, we are setting targets in this legislation. There is a reduction target of 51%. Every five years, a carbon budget will be set. It is a long-term process so it is not like an annual financial budget where we look at how much money will be spent in a few months time. This is a long-term objective involving a five-year carbon budget, a ten-year target to reach 2030 and the longer-term target to reach 2050. I feel it has the right balance between the powers of the Executive and the powers of the Oireachtas and it does mean that the Government must perform the actions it is duly bound to perform by this legislation.

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