Mr. Gabriel D'Arcy:

I thank the Chairman and committee for welcoming us. I introduce my colleagues, Ms Lorraine Fitzgerald, secretary to the corporate leaders group, and Mr. Joseph Curtin, a consultant who recently worked with the National Economic and Social Council and was the author of its recent December 2012 report on the subject. I intended to read a statement but if the Chairman does not wish me to do so, I will not. I will talk about what we are trying to achieve.

First and foremost, I would like, on behalf of the corporate leaders group, to thank the Minister and his officials for bringing forward the heads of the Bill to this juncture. There was some debate and questioning as to the commitment of the Department and Minister to bringing this forward and I commend him on bringing it forward.

A few points should be addressed in the Bill to strengthen it. The heads of the Bill would benefit from there being an overarching vision towards 2050 for the country in terms of climate change. Other countries have done something similar. In our statement we referred to Denmark and elsewhere.

In our submission we note it has been clearly recognised, and attested to recently in moves by President Obama in the United States with regard to his proposals on fossil fuels, that Ireland, because of its location and geography and climate change, as it is occurring, can benefit disproportionately. We have a disproportionate amount of renewables. Renewable energy is no longer a fringe subject but is core, and it is recognised it can play a major role.

In bioenergy and a number of other areas, Ireland can disproportionately benefit from a move to a low carbon economy. We need to set out a national vision which cascades down into all the other sectors and departments. One of the issues in the Bill is that it seems to be built up from those sectors. There is a role for a national vision. Ireland can create huge strategic gain in developing a national vision which will cascade down.

Related to that is the development of sectoral and national roadmaps. In Bord na Móna we set out a vision which is encapsulated in a statement, a new contract with nature. It is about sustainable development, which is defined in economic, social and environmental terms. We have a duty to the communities we serve, our shareholders and the environment. It is being rolled out in each of the business units within the company. This would be a better practice and a way of moving forward on this Bill.

My final point concerns the role of the expert advisory body. As published in the heads of the Bill, it is not sufficiently strong. For instance, the Bill envisages that the body may be consulted in developing roadmaps. We believe that the expert body should have a much more powerful role. We fully acknowledge the role of Government and the Houses in terms of setting out legislation and objectives, but the Houses, as they pertain to this Bill, would benefit from much stronger expert advisory group and, as we have laid out in our statement, the rules, goals and responsibilities.