Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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Contrary to the tone of some of the other comments, I wish to ask Mr. Carroll whether he agrees this is the first time we will have carbon budget targets that are binding, with embedded concrete targets of 51% in two budgets, one for the first five years and one for the second five years. One of the enduring calls from many who are committed to climate action is to see embedded in legislation targets and carbon budgets. This has been the defect in our approach to tackling climate change for many years and it has allowed issues such as climate to be overlooked by successive policy makers. Does Mr. Carroll agree this is path-breaking legislation? While there can be improvement in some of the wording as we proceed on Committee Stage it would be a mistake for the committee to regard this as in some way diluting commitments. This creates a vehicle to drive change in the area. This message should come out of the committee hearings as well as the undoubted scope for improvement in some of the drafting.