Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 7 October 2020
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action
General Scheme of the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union (Consequential Provisions) Bill 2020 (Arrangements in relation to Fluorinated Greenhouse Gases): Department of Environment, Climate and Communications
Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent)
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I apologise if this is an obvious question, but is there a reciprocal scheme in respect of recognition of certifications from Ireland in the UK? I am thinking particularly of people with these skills who may be working on a cross-Border basis. Mr. Close mentioned that there are very few days left and we anticipate that this Brexit Bill is going to be coming through the Oireachtas very rapidly, judging from previous legislation. I hope it will not proceed too rapidly to allow discussion. This is a very specific measure in potentially a longer-term timeframe than the Bill that was before us last year. What other environmental equivalence measures might be considered in looking to anticipate climate and other targets?
How do we ensure there will be measures in the Bill around environmental regulation across other sectors, will those measures be in the Bill or will there even be a mechanism in the Bill for the future consideration of those? I know there are a lot of sectors where there are high environmental regulation standards and there may be concerns around any undercutting or undermining of that in the medium term. I do not know if that will be in the Bill so I apologise if that is not relevant.