Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Amendment No. 131 is about inserting climate targets into the Bill to make sure that meeting climate targets are part of the objectives of the national planning framework. We had some discussion earlier that is relevant to this. In my view, it is just not sufficient to have these targets in other legislation. They have to be a core part of what is being done in the national planning framework. If it is not explicitly written there, I do not think it will get the prioritisation that is necessary. If we look, at the moment, at our building process, embodied carbon and whole-of-life carbon emissions from buildings, we are nowhere near where we need to be with regard to sustainability, measuring what goes into buildings, and limiting the carbon emissions from what goes into buildings and from its entire life cycle.

I, along with other Deputies, was recently at an event organised by the Irish Green Building Council. The frustration among people involved in the industry was palpable, with the lack of progress we have made on this. We were discussing the planning Bill, and this is very much a planning matter. Look at what is happening with regard to sustainability in planning, and planning permissions being granted to demolish buildings. Sometimes they should be demolished but often they should be reused, repurposed and renovated. It is much more sustainable to do so. You still have demolition going on. You do not have carbon limits or incentives in the planning process or elsewhere to ensure use of low-carbon materials or concrete. We have not had the progress we need on timber frame. Even in terms of what has been provided, we have not had enough leadership from the State on procurement or taxation policies. We are way behind countries like Denmark and France. Carbon measuring and limits would lead to more sustainable designs. Building materials would make a huge and practical difference.

There are also issues not just in terms of materials used in building but also in design. We could be making huge progress on improving design around sustainability, which would have an impact. That could be done through our planning process, which would then impact on the amount of carbon being used. For example, the Irish Green Building Council recently circulated findings from the Construct Innovate-funded viable homes project, and in that was a whole range of design suggestions that will reduce and limit the carbon that goes into buildings if they were implemented through design and the planning process. It is a key weakness in the Bill not to have this here. I will leave it at that but I may come back in depending on what the Minister of State says.