Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I also congratulate the Minister on his new Department. It is a huge Department and a very important one. I also thank him for his presentation. I too am convinced that tackling climate change is going to be the global challenge of this decade. Just transition and human rights have to be a huge part of that, in Ireland and across the globe. The Minister also said how important he sees the decarbonisation agenda as being to enterprise policy and the work of his Department. The climate Bill matters in the context of Bills across all the different Departments. That is why we are having all the Departments come before us. It also matters across the EU with regard to the member states and the EU's own legislative response to climate change.

I have a very specific question for the Minister. There is a major piece of legislation that sits within his Department that could make a huge difference in this area. That is in the area of business and human rights, which my comrade, an Teachta Louise O'Reilly, has raised with the Department in the past year or so. As the Minister will know, the corporate sustainability directive is being debated in the European Parliament at the moment. This directive can transform the global picture for our carbon emissions, biodiversity, human rights and, indeed, environmental defenders by cleaning up the global supply chains. The idea is that the EU should take the lead on this globally. The EU came from the Council of Europe, which was a human rights group. That has to be at the core of this.

The Minister will probably know that the European People's Party, EPP, of which his party is a part, has largely voted to water down this legislation. Will the Minister use his Department and his ministry to make sure that Ireland leads on this law within the EU? Far from watering down the legislation, Ireland should be strengthening it particularly in regard to its climate targets. Many businesses that I have spoken to across north Kildare are anxious to do this. They are taking corporate accountability on emissions quite seriously. Does the Minister have anything to say on this? Oxfam and the Irish Coalition for Business and Human Rights, which I have been dealing with, will also be interested in his response.