Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

For the benefit of our guests today, in committee we sit, but in the Chambers we stand. As this is a committee in a chamber, it is confusing. I will follow my colleague's lead and I will sit.

Good afternoon to all of you. I extend particular thanks to An Cathaoirleach for the generous use of his Chamber. My colleagues in Fine Gael and Senator McGahon are here. Deputy Bruton unfortunately cannot make it as he is attending the funeral of a former Member of this House, Mary Jackman, in County Limerick. May she rest in peace.

I welcome the opportunity to hear from our witnesses today. I am sure my colleagues will speak on their own behalf, but I am very inspired by what I have heard and the confidence in which they delivered their remarks. I assure them that 16-year-old or 17-year-old or 18-year-old me would not have been able to match the confidence. That is going back to the mid 90s. I can be absolutely certain of that. The witnesses are a credit not only to their families and the organisations with whom they are with here today, but also to their schools. Well done.

The passion and commitment shown not just today but in recent years as organisations on the theme of climate action and in cajoling members of all parties and none into making meaningful change has been, and continues to be, an opportunity for all of us to reflect on who we represent and why we are here. There are so many things that need to be done that it seems overwhelming, particularly in recent years. We launched a climate action plan in 2019. It was updated with more realistic vigour last year and the committee spent significant time going through it and improving it. We can all be absolutely certain that we made a very valuable contribution. Within that, a great many young voices were heard and it is really important that we continue with engagement like this.

I am very fortunate that I represent the youngest constituency in Europe, believe it or not. On that basis, along with Dublin West, I am often acutely aware of the age profile of my constituents and this is why I sought membership of the committee and to be the spokesperson on climate action in Fine Gael, the party I represent.

I could speak about the various actions within the climate action plan but I have heard clearly that our guests and the organisations they represent believe there may be things of which we are not doing enough. I certainly recognise that. As I mentioned, doing everything that needs to be done in order to reach carbon net zero involves fundamental changes to the way in which we live our lives, the way in which society and businesses operate and to the State itself in terms of its responsibilities. That is why it can sometimes appear overwhelming.

One of the ways that we, as a Legislature and as individual Members of Parliament, can have the greatest impact is to ensure that our energy market is decarbonised and as reliable as possible. Reference was made to that in the course of our guests’ contributions. Ireland is uniquely placed in Europe and the world to harness wind energy, particularly off our Atlantic coasts. There are several schemes currently before planning and, thanks to Members of the Oireachtas, a new maritime area planning authority will be established shortly. I hope that will speed things up.

Decarbonising our energy grid is essential but there is a slight issue that has been highlighted by the unjust and unjustifiable war on the people of Ukraine by Vladimir Putin, namely, that we are reliant on many others not just for gas, but also for electricity. We are going to increase that reliance with further interconnectors between Ireland and France, for instance. That introduces an interesting conversation that we have not had in Ireland since back in the 1980s when nuclear power was discussed in the context of County Wexford. There was a campaign and the people said “No”. That is absolutely fine but are we now going be import nuclear energy from France, which is 78% powered by nuclear, or are we going to have a meaningful debate about the “what ifs”? When it comes to energy security, one cannot afford to have “what ifs”. An example of those “what ifs” is whether we will be able to rely on our European partners in ten, 20, 30 or more years. These are questions we have to ask. I believe that we, as a nation, should be able to have a conversation about a matter without making a commitment to doing something. A general conversation on nuclear power is overdue and we should be having it. That is important in the context of the debate on energy security.

Storage and other matters that have been mentioned by some of the contributors are absolutely worthy of consideration. We, as a nation, need to lead in research and development. We have a unique economy in the global context. We attract a massive amount of foreign direct investment and are the headquarters of many firms and organisations from across the world. It is, therefore, incumbent on us to continue with that and incentivise research and development in battery storage so that we can be ready for the day when the sun does not shine or the wind does not blow.

I am almost finished. I appreciate the leeway given to me by the Chairman.

There were comments in respect of research at university level. I absolutely agree. I assure our guests that the Minister, Deputy Harris, agrees with them in that regard. The things we are seeing happen at third level now will benefit them directly, depending on their chosen path after the leaving certificate. We have a unique opportunity in Ireland. There are those who might say we are an island of 5 million people or six a half million people off the coast of Europe and we are but a drop in the ocean. Our voice has an extraordinary reach, however. Listening to our guests this morning is inspiring because I know that inspiring and influential voice on the world scene will continue.

There are people present who are sitting in these seats for the first time. I have never sat in this Chamber before. As I joked with the Minister of State, Senator Hackett, when I sat down, there is only one chair in this auditorium in which I would be comfortable sitting, and the Chairman is currently sitting in it. I am not convinced that I ever wish to sit in these seats, no disrespect to my esteemed Seanad colleagues.