Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

In the allocation of the sectoral emissions ceilings, there are certain sectors where it is very clear where the responsibility lies. Transport, for example, lies with the Minister. Even though it connects through to energy and other areas, and housing and transport are inextricably connected, in truth the Department of Transport has the real responsibility there. It is the same with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine with agricultural emissions and it is the same in our Department with regard to energy emissions.

The areas where there is overlap include public sector emissions and housing. The latter is where we will probably have to focus most in making sure it does not fall through the cracks. With regard to the public sector, the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform has a key role but that is not the sole role. It is up to each line Minister, particularly in health, education and justice, which account for some of the big public sector emissions. That is a more difficult area on which we have to focus. It is understandable that the first interest of the Minister for Health is to get patients well, while that of the Minister for Education is to get pupils taught. There is real benefit in making sure schools are well built and warm and hospitals are efficient but, although the Ministers are aware they also have a responsibility in the context of emissions, it is difficult to put that at the centre of the management board of those Departments. That is what we must do, however. Similarly, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has a key role in building performance standards, for example, such as in terms of embodied carbon within buildings and the type of buildings that are being built. That will always be an issue for that Department. Understandably, its primary focus, particularly in the current climate, is on building as many houses as it can. We need to be careful, however, that it does not all revert to the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communication. The main responsibility has to be shared and that is probably going to be one of the biggest challenges.