Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for coming before the committee. I will speak to the climate action plan. I agree that it is ambitious and it is positive to hear all the different plans and proposals included in it that the Government intends to roll out. However, there is an issue around the urgent implementation of these actions. To date, the Government has consistently found it difficult to meet the target in the 2019 action plan. Take transport where there is an intention for a 42% to 50% reduction in emissions. Most of that is based on the move to 1 million electric vehicles, of which 7,000 are being purchased annually. On public transport, even the Connecting Ireland plan has only €5 million going into that next year. The Government is seeking a 50% emissions reduction in buildings and key to that is retrofitting. There is no specific retrofitting apprenticeship now. Three out of four retrofitting centres of excellence that were promised earlier this year have not materialised. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has failed. It has only retrofitted 199 of 2,500 social homes that it was supposed to have done this year. Unfortunately, under each of the specified measures, the Government has failed to meet the targets. While I welcome the climate action plan, I cannot see how there has been a change in the business-as-usual approach and how that implementation will happen. The investment needed is not there. The majority of the €125 billion mentioned is private money. Individuals will not be in a position to put that money in to meet the implementation of this.