Derek Keating (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to speak on this important legislation and acknowledge the presence of the Minister of State, Deputy Ann Phelan, in the Chamber. I commend the Minister and the Government on fulfilling their commitment to propose the implementation of specific legislation to deal with climate change. In its Programme for Government 2011-2016, the Government committed to "publish a Climate Change Bill which will provide certainty surrounding government policy and provide a clear pathway for emissions reductions, in line with negotiated EU 2020 targets". In its Statement of Government Priorities 2014-2016, the Government reaffirmed its pledge to publish legislation on climate change, with a view to enactment by the end of 2014 as follows:

Enactment of the Climate Action and Low-Carbon Development Bill by the end of the year together with a new national roadmap to help Ireland meet its EU2020 climate change targets. The Government will also ensure that any additional climate change and renewable energy targets for Ireland are fair and realistic, and take appropriate account of our particular national circumstances and economic challenges, including in respect of the agriculture sector.

The Government's national policy is clear on the need for a continuous focus through target achievement not just for today or for the lifetime of this Dáil but over decades to come and states:

The evolution of climate policy in Ireland will be an iterative process, based on the adoption by Government of a series of national plans over the period to 2050. Greenhouse gas mitigation and adaptation to the impacts of climate change will be addressed in parallel national plans – respectively through National Low-Carbon Roadmaps and National Climate Change Adaptation Frameworks.

The National Low-Carbon Roadmaps and the National Climate Change Adaptation Frameworks will constitute key pillars of the process through which Government will develop and progress, mitigation and adaptation policy in order to enable the State to pursue and achieve transition to a low-carbon, climate-resilient and environmentally sustainable economy in the period to 2050.

As members of the EU, we are also bound by obligations to our neighbours and partner states. I am profoundly aware of these through my work on the Select Committee on European Union Affairs. These obligations put environmental concerns front and centre in our thinking on all national, regional and local development plans.

Over the past decades, the European Union has put in place a broad range of environmental legislation. As a result, air, water and soil pollution have significantly been reduced. Chemicals legislation has been modernised and the use of many toxic or hazardous substances has been restricted. Today, EU citizens enjoy some of the best water quality in the world and over 18% of the EU's territory has been designated as protected areas for nature.

However, many challenges persist and these must be tackled together in a structured way. We are a party to the 7th Environment Action Plan which has three key objectives: first, to protect, conserve and enhance the EU's environment and animal and plant diversity; second, to turn the EU into a resource-efficient, green and competitive low-carbon economy; and third, to safeguard the EU's citizens from environment-related pressures and risks to health and well-being.

This Bill will begin Ireland's journey towards achieving these goals and make our villages, towns, cities, factories and farms more sustainable, as well as helping us to address international environmental and climate challenges more effectively. This House needs to keep a constant and vigilant oversight on all actions undertaken through the framework established by the Bill.

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