Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Yes, give or take. The Minister just said that the Government made a commitment to bring in legislation to address climate change - to introduce the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill. We would have hoped that any such proposals and anything contained within such a Bill would address the issues in their entirety and get it completely right - that it would not get it half right by addressing only some of the issues, but would live up to the expectation and the commitment that was given. I must disagree with the Minister when he said that this Government is living up to its expectations and commitments. It is not even living up to what is set out in his party's Bill of 2009 in this area.

We will oppose this Bill if there are not substantial amendments to it - amendments that will be proposed by myself and others in the course of its passage through the House. Unless the Minister makes serious amendments to the Bill, I cannot see the House in its entirety supporting it. This long-delayed Bill marks a serious retreat from the 2010 legislation published by the Fianna Fáil-Green Party Government. Instead of clear targets, it has vague aspirations. Climate change is a serious threat to this island nation across a broad remit of areas from agriculture to infrastructure, including the threat of massive coastal erosion. The Bill does not confront the scale of that threat. It is time the Government got serious about climate change and started to take action to protect Ireland's long-term interests and global responsibilities. I am mindful of a comment that was made to me when I met various bodies and an amalgam of activists seeking to lobby us and make us fully aware of everything pertaining to climate change in order that the House and its Members would be able to make an informed decision upon the culmination of the process. It was a short meeting which I had only yesterday. The comment was that members of the generation following mine are in no doubt of what needs to be done and what must be done, and are fully aware of the impact of climate change, but this generation of which we are a part - this generation of parliamentarians in the Oireachtas - may be the last one that has a chance to do anything about it. That is why this debate will have to mean something. That is why Second Stage of this Bill will have to be taken seriously. That is why I ask that the Minister take on board some of the recommendations that are emanating from this group and seriously consider the amendments that will be proposed during the passage of the Bill.

I will turn to the key points contained in the Bill. It continues to lack real teeth and has no clear targets. The input from the exhaustive hearings of the Joint Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government and its subsequent consensus recommendations have effectively been ignored by the Government, contrary to what the Minister has said. The Bill is a regressive move that steps back from the ambitious framework of targets up to 2050 contained in previous legislation such as the 2010 Bill, the all-party 2010 Bill and the Labour Party Bill. It delays action on climate change for a further two years, as the Government is kicking the can down the road on this issue. The Minister is following hard on his predecessor's footsteps in his failure to include a strategic target for 2050, and that exposes the failure to rise to the pressing challenge of climate change. To remove responsibility for the targets and instead leave it to the EU is an abrogation of duty. For the Labour Party, it is another broken promise, as it has failed to legislate for the goals that it included in its legislation in 2009 and instead has settled for a flawed, emasculated piece of legislation. Environmental groups have roundly criticised the heads of the Bill for the lack of vision contained therein. It in no way sets out a meaningful strategic framework to address climate change. It does not, for example, include the Government's own definition of low carbon, it does not guarantee the independence of the climate advisory council and it does not make provision for the principle of climate justice.

I will turn to the main points of the Bill.

The failure to include specific 2050 targets will give rise to sectoral interests potentially hijacking the process and depriving the Bill of its long-term impact in shaping policy formation. In other words, as a result, the Bill is effectively toothless.

An expert advisory council is a welcome idea, but it must be given real resources and clear powers if it is to have any real impact on climate change policy. The council proposed in this Bill lacks any real independence. The Oireachtas must debate the advice and reports of the council and, unlike in the current Bill, the Government must consult the body when developing a carbon strategy. As I have said on two or three occasions, the Government has delayed the adoption of a national mitigation plan with sectoral policy measures by at least two years.

Ireland's last emissions reduction plan expired at the end of 2012, just before our challenging 2020 EU targets came into force. The Government then promised a new plan by early 2014. In April 2014, the then Minister Phil Hogan's draft Bill mandated there be an action plan within 12 months of the climate law coming into force. Now, the Minister's Bill gives the Government two years from enactment to come up with actual measures to reduce emissions. That is a cop-out.

The annual transition report is a welcome measure that should be fully debated in the Oireachtas as part of holding the Government to account over its climate change strategy. A rigorous accountability system needs to be put in place to ensure that public bodies are drivers of reform on climate change and play a leading role in innovating and implementing the Government's strategy. Specific public body climate change reports should be developed. This has to be driven at local government level also.

The principle of climate justice has been entirely ignored by this Bill. The Government has voiced support for the principle of climate justice at the UN and even co-hosted a conference on the issue with Mary Robinson as part of Ireland's EU Presidency. Can that now be perceived by one and all as simply lip-service?

As regards our position, we are committed to an ambitious environmental programme which includes tackling climate change. We published the Climate Change Response Bill 2010 on 23 December 2010, which passed First Stage in the Seanad before the Dáil was dissolved despite the fact that the Minister seems to indicate that no effort whatsoever was made by the previous Government before its abrupt and unfortunate end. The Bill set out Fianna Fáil's commitment to legislating for a process that allows us to plan for greenhouse emissions reduction and adaptation to climate change, as the Bill makes clear. Fianna Fáil believes this must be done in a way that safeguards economic development and competitiveness. Ireland should be consistent with EU targets and we have consistently supported the international process under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

A major change in our approach to climate change policy is a new national priority on carbon transition. While they are important indicators of progress, we must also have a longer term and wider vision for creating a prosperous, sustainable country. The Climate Change Bill should enable us to pursue a smart economy which is highly productive, competitive and resource-efficient, while environmentally sustainable. We support the broad thrust of the findings and recommendations of the NESC report. The five guiding principles for climate action should underpin Ireland's strategy to become a carbon-neutral society. These are economic prosperity, recovery and social development; incremental and permanent decarbonisation; responsibility, integrity and leadership; reform of public institutions and governance; and social engagement.

As the Minister knows, every country has to play its part. The Minister has delayed on this issue and has now produced a toothless Bill which can do little to deal with the central issues involved. I again ask him to take more cognisance of the exhaustive input from the Joint Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht, the recommendations which emanated from it and what was contained in its report. Having failed to do so in the production of this Bill, I again ask the Minister to take on board many of the recommendations and amendments which will be tabled as it passes through the House. Perhaps then, as I said, there may be more wide-ranging support for a Bill which will have teeth, can effect change and we can stand over as having played our part in addressing the unfortunate dilemma and the unfortunate crossroads at which we find ourselves. As I said, a generation is coming fast on our heels which is well aware of the necessity of those in positions of power to effect change.

We might be the last ones who can play a role in living up to their expectations. Climate change is having an effect the world over, not just here, which is something we regularly see and will see more of every year. It is having a detrimental effect on society and the environment. I ask the Minister to take on board the suggestions which will be made during this debate and, more importantly, to take seriously the amendments which will be proposed by the Opposition. It would be a great legacy for the Minister, who craves a legacy, to be able to say at the end of the debate that there was universal support across the House from all Members in his efforts to effect real climate action and produce a low carbon development Bill which would have widespread support.

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