Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Tuesday, 18 December 2018
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment
Petroleum and Other Minerals Development (Amendment) (Climate Emergency Measures) Bill 2018: Discussion
12:40 pm
Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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I thank the Deputies and Senators for their contributions. Tackling the problem of fossil fuels is something we will do over time. It will not happen overnight. We talk about the potential of offshore energy projects. The fact is we do not have anything that is commercial at this stage. The issue is being looked at and there are projects ongoing, but they are at development stage. Until we produce energy through these means, we cannot fall off the cliff. There are support schemes that are helping people who are investing in offshore and onshore wind energy projects. There is momentum. The Government and everybody in the House agrees that tackling climate change is the number one issue. We need to make sure it will happen in a structured way in order that we will not leave ourselves exposed. I accept that the Bill is well intentioned. When all of the pluses and minuses are added, we are in a situation where the Bill could cause a hell of a lot more problems than it would solve.