Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 26 November 2019

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment

Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 29 - Communications, Climate Action and Environment (Supplementary)

Photo of Richard BrutonRichard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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We have indeed and we have obtained some additional capacity. There is no doubt this is a challenge. Developing a climate plan and working bilaterally with several Departments trying to get agreement throughout the public sector has put a big strain on the resources of the Department. As the Deputy rightly demands, we are working on a climate Bill, which we hope to publish soon. It is a challenge but I must say that people have stepped up to it. There is a great sense of commitment in this area. We will have to see more resources progressively allocated to the Department to conduct its responsibilities. We have an additional €2 million for new staff in the budget allocation for 2020. I expect we will continually need additional capacity to do this. We have a great team whose members are very committed and are delivering.