Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 19 June 2019

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action

Climate Action Plan: Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment

Photo of Marcella Corcoran KennedyMarcella Corcoran Kennedy (Offaly, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I welcome the publication of the climate action plan, which is very ambitious and will prove to be a tremendous challenge. The whole-of-Government approach and reaching out to communities will be a very important means of engaging with everybody. There is no doubt that citizens now are very aware of what we need to do and being a small island, we need to show this kind of leadership.

Are there details on how people can access the smart finance? Sustainable energy communities and microgeneration often came up as being very positive when we were thinking about our recommendations for the plan. How will the planning restrictions be handled for rooftop solar panels? Will they be changed? Can the Minister give us more detail on the midlands retrofit scheme? I am a member of the transition team in Offaly which is a cross-stakeholder group led by Offaly County Council. It can bring a lot of learning to the table and it would be useful to engage with it. The Minister might be able to give me some information on that. It is very important that the board be based in the Taoiseach's office from a governance point of view but how will that work in practice? Who will form part of that board? How will the just transition review group work? Will it, for example, engage with the transition team in Offaly or how will that go within the National Economic and Social Council, NESC?