John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

When the process and timeline for the review of the programme for Government are agreed, I will be discussing with my colleagues in government the environmental policy priorities which we will continue to pursue so as to ensure that the Government's ambitious agenda in this regard is delivered and indeed enhanced.

We have made significant progress on our environmental priorities in the two years since the current programme for Government was agreed. In particular, my primary motivation in entering government was to tackle the defining issue of climate change. We have now changed the nature of public discourse on this issue, through many areas of Government action, for example on energy efficiency, building standards, transport emissions and the annual carbon budget, and through our support for an ambitious EU climate policy and leadership role at wider international level. In order to address the climate challenge it is necessary that our policy and practical responses are consolidated and intensified in the period ahead.

The progress being made in many environmental areas, including waste management, where an international review is well advanced, water services, where major investment is being maintained at a time of budgetary constraint, enforcement and compliance, including through the resourcing of the EPA and my Department's National Parks and Wildlife Service and the pursuit of sustainable development through strengthened planning under the new Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009, are all matters of record.

Overall, it is a firm objective of Government to work towards a clean and safe environment for all. In the context of the planned review of the programme for Government, I am confident that we will build on and strengthen the commitments and objectives already agreed so that the protection and enhancement of the quality of our environment remains at the centre of Government policy.

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