Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 3 June 2021

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment

Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage

Photo of Eamon RyanEamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I am not able to support this amendment. There are already target-setting criteria established in the Bill, which provide that any carbon budget plan or strategy the Government adopts will take account of a number of limited but crucial considerations, such as our EU and international obligations, including the Paris Agreement commitments, as well as the calculated national and voluntary projections. Those matters are clear and cannot be disputed. We need to be wary of introducing conflicting considerations that might make it impossible to reach agreement on what is a fair budget for Ireland. We do not want any conflict with the process of bringing forward carbon neutrality objectives by 2045.

The Bill already includes target-setting criteria and considerations when determining how to distribute the budget across relevant sectors and what actions and measures are necessary to achieve the budget and ensure it is economically and socially just. That is critical. Ministers must have regard to the extensive list of matters set out under section 4(8) of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015, as inserted by section 6 of the Bill, which is the more appropriate place to set out those criteria.