Anne Ferris (Wicklow, Labour) | Oireachtas source

There is a very well-known and very old saying, attributed to the Greek philosopher Aristotle, that one swallow will never make a summer. That proverb has relevance to this climate change debate, in more ways than one. The behaviour of migratory birds is studied a lot by climate change experts. When birds travel thousands of miles, weather patterns influence their behaviour. Birdwatch Ireland tells us that the Irish swallow is arriving here in increasingly fewer numbers. Global warming has caused the Sahara desert to become bigger and wider. Many of the swallows die on the journey home to nest because they cannot make the longer crossing without water. The swallows that get here have to deal with the wetter Irish summers, also caused by climate change. This, the bird experts tell us, results in fewer insects for feeding the chicks and a lower survival rate all around. It is not just affecting the swallows. The famous Atlantic salmon of Irish folklore also faces extinction due to rising sea temperatures. Fewer and fewer are making the journey home to Irish rivers to spawn.

As a nation, we do not just have international obligations regarding climate change as we also have local obligations. The next generation of Irish children is as entitled as the previous one to have salmon in its rivers and to mark the beginning of spring with the return of the swallows. Climate change regulation is one of the most important duties we have in this Oireachtas. Contributing productively and sensibly to correcting climate change is at least as important, if not more important, to future generations than the work the Government is doing to correct the economy. However, this is where there is another context for using the expression, “One swallow does not a summer make”. One piece of climate change legislation does not a problem solve. While I welcome the fact that this legislation has an interdepartmental focus, I am seriously concerned about the lack of joined-up thinking so far on the topic of climate change. Across Government, different Departments are working separately, like busy, endangered bees, on reports and strategies that affect climate but nobody seems to be focusing on putting the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle together.

Achieving renewable energy targets is an essential aspect of meeting emissions targets. When oil, peat and coal are burned to make energy, it releases the emissions that lead to climate change. Therefore, it is fairly straightforward to conclude that reducing emissions will require the world to use less energy, and for the energy that is used to be from cleaner renewable sources, such as solar or wave power or wind turbines. It makes sense that Ireland should contribute to this global effort through adopting strategies to waste less energy and to build our fair share of renewable energy technologies.

Given the need for a global effort, I was shocked in recent weeks to discover through parliamentary questions that nobody in any Government agency or Department is measuring the amount of renewable energy that has been generated thus far on foot of the granting of planning permission. The Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government counts no planning permissions, although one might expect it to have a vested interest in understanding how close the country is to achieving a fair share of global emission targets. The Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources does not count the planning permissions, even though it has the job of preparing energy strategies. The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland has no accurate count either. One might ask why this should matter. Can we not continue building wind farms across the country and up to our shorelines until there is no more space for a swallow to fly between the turbines? One might ask whether it is not all good for climate change. There are many reasons this attitude is wrong. There has to be public support for climate change initiatives to work. The public has to understand what the targets are, why they are needed and how Ireland's efforts fit into the global context. First, there must be targets and, second, the targets have to be accepted by the citizens as valid.

There has to be flexibility in how the country achieves overall emissions targets. At present, people are not being offered energy conservation and reduction targets as an alternative way of reducing emissions. Electric vehicles have a role to play in reducing emissions but this is not being considered to the appropriate extent.

At present, it seems as if the only plan under active consideration is for wind turbines and for Ireland to build enough of them to help meet the emission targets of the United Kingdom and France. This type of blinkered strategy is not going to lead to the level of community buy-in necessary to achieve meaningful adjustments in climate-changing emissions. That is why I would have liked to have seen more independence in the formulation of the new expert advisory council.

The State agencies have so far displayed over-dependence on a wind energy strategy that is not being properly measured and has a falling level of public support. What is needed more than anything is a fresh approach, and fresh ideas that involve local communities in climate action. I urge the Ministers to bring as many independent voices as possible to the table. It takes the voices of more than one swallow to make a summer.

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