Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I very much welcome the opportunity to address the House on behalf of Fianna Fáil on the issue of climate action in the development of a low-carbon economy. Climate change is certainly one of the most important issues of our time. I welcome the opportunity to discuss it and hope we can do so in a calm way. I do not think anybody has it within his or her grasp to take ownership of it, but we must work collectively. My party has been and remains committed to meeting our climate change commitments. It will not achieve success alone; we will only succeed by working together in this House.

We are witnessing around the world some of the grave consequences of a rise in temperatures. Sea levels are rising; the frequency of extreme weather events is increasing and climatic changes are beginning to reshape how communities live. This extends to our island nation which last year experienced some of the most devastating floods in living memory. As sea levels rise and extreme storms become more frequent, the coastline is beginning to erode rapidly. As people living along the coastline will attest, this will have serious consequences for coastal communities. This is not projected to happen in the future; it is happening now. It is also happening in inland communities. The Minister does not need a lecture from me on the devastating impact of flooding in the River Shannon basin and as flood waters make their ways to the sea. Members of the House had the opportunity to see people dealing with the floods at the time and it was a major crisis, but it was only the tip of the iceberg. In that regard, I would be critical of other aspects of government, particularly the Office of Public Works and the Department in that they have been unable to provide an appropriate plan to assist people affected by flooding. We are looking at a different aspect of that matter, on which I will concentrate.

On an international level, I have been saddened, too, by the hypocrisy of certain Members in expressing their sympathy to the victims of extreme weather events such as the catastrophic tsunami in 2004 in the Indian Ocean in which approximately 230,000 people lost their lives while at the same time failing to do anything to reduce and abate the risk of future occurrences.

In advance of the 12th anniversary of this tragedy, and as another tragic climate-related event has taken the lives of 100 people in the same region, we should be reminded of the urgency for us to act quickly to address the inevitable impacts of temperature increases and to minimise the gravity of future impacts. That said, our message also has to be a positive one. We cannot succumb to the notion that mitigating climate change will be a sheer burden on our economy. Instead, we must focus on the opportunities for Ireland to achieve positive outcomes in meeting our reduction targets. This will require a mind shift in our developing economy. The burden to assist in making that change falls to the Minister, to some extent. It will require swift and decisive action on the part of elected representatives, particularly those in government, and across Departments. Ireland must identify the strategies and timelines that will be needed to achieve our targets and work toward putting these into place. Our 2020 and 2030 targets present very significant challenges and they simply cannot be met without considerable forward thinking and prudent planning. I am proud to say that this is an area in which Fianna Fáil has a strong record. We had a particularly strong record when we were last in government with the Green Party. I certainly do not intend to suggest that it was all as a result of Fianna Fáil's making. Our relationship with the Green Party worked exceptionally well with the guidance of Deputy Eamon Ryan and others. It may have brought to some of our people a deeper and better understanding of what was required. That has been a valuable experience for us and I hope that in my time here, in the role I currently have, it will assist me and guide me in what we support and how we intend to pursue policies.

Fianna Fáil previously published the Climate Change Response Bill 2010 on 23 December of that year. It passed First Stage in the Seanad before the Dáil was dissolved in 2011. Fianna Fáil absolutely recognises that we have to play a very important role in ensuring Ireland’s swift transition to a low-carbon economy. By contrast, I make the charge that government - now and previously - has repeatedly shirked its commitments to emissions reduction and renewable power generation. Fine GaeI and the Labour Party's Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015 in the last Dáil marked a serious retreat from the 2010 legislation published by the previous Fianna Fáil and Green Party-led Government. Instead of setting clear targets, it had vague aspirations. As a result, Ireland is, in my view and I believe in the view of many, on course for a dramatic failure to meet its 2020 targets that has the potential to incur serious fines. The Minister, Deputy Naughten, and I have had a back and forth discussion here about whether or not that will happen. It is not just about the fines. The fines are a striking recognition that there is a problem but the devastating impact on our environment should, in itself, at least be that which has the capacity to speak to Government and to those of us who have a responsibility to think, plan and act, rather than be guided by fines, but let us see what it takes. Maybe it will be the threat of fines that will eventually force action.

Recent months have seen important developments at international and European levels with regard to decarbonisation and mitigation. Perhaps more significantly, 4 November saw the Paris Agreement come into force. This agreement, which builds on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, represents the most significant effort to bring together all nations to work towards a common cause of climate change mitigation and adaptation. Under this agreement, Ireland will be working toward the EU’s collective goal of reducing EU emissions by 40% relative to 2005 levels. Overall, Ireland will have to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 30% below 2005 levels by 2030. Under the new EU framework for a transition to low-carbon emissions, Ireland can offset its carbon emissions by using managed cropland, grassland and forest to generate carbon credits at a rate that is equivalent to approximately 2.8 megatonnes per annum. This is a welcome development and recognises Ireland's status as a developed nation whose economy is relatively reliant on agriculture. Fianna Fáil embraces this flexibility and we very much hope that it will be used to its full potential to aid Ireland’s progress toward our 2030 targets. Unfortunately, the Government has shown little initiative in this regard. For example, new forests planted since 1990 now absorb 18% of Irish agriculture’s annual greenhouse gas emissions, making afforestation an incredibly effective means to increase our carbon sequestration capacity. As it stands, however, only 11% of Irish territory is covered by forests, as the Minister knows. This is compared to a 33% EU average. The Government’s current plan to sustain tree planting rates of 6,000 ha per annum would see an annual sequestration of approximately 1.7 megatonnes per annum. This is just 60% of Ireland’s allowance under the new 2030 framework. I understand that some counties are resisting the planting of managed forests where it is believed that afforestation would ultimately render vast tracts of their areas as non-useable or non-liveable, but we have a responsibility to take on that issue and put in place the kind of incentives that would see a greater take up of afforestation to meet our commitments and address the overall issue. It falls to all Members to better explain that and not be running with the hare and chasing with the hound, which too many people in politics do. It is a ruse of the Opposition to say, "I am not going to follow that and I am going to tell people what they want to hear". If tough decisions have to be taken the Minister will get support from this side of the House. He, however, has to lead as a Government Minister. Ireland should take decisive steps in order to increase the amount of forest coverage. Returns from forestry are strongly competitive compared with many other farm enterprises. We have seen the fluctuation in beef and milk prices over the past two years. Potential forestry returns, along with positive interactions with key farm schemes, have the potential to enhance financial fitness on the farm. To support the continued development of forestry Fianna Fáil proposes the retention of the tax-free status of forestry income and suggests that it be spread over a number of years. In addition to this, development of a biomass and bio-diesel market and accompanying supply chain should also play a key role in Ireland’s low-carbon development. Increasing our capacity for carbon sequestration and renewable energy generation will deliver positive results for Ireland. Of course, ensuring low-carbon development is about more than just sequestration. We must be proactive in finding new and more carbon efficient means of driving our economy and fuelling our growth. This will involve a considerable increase in our capacity for renewable energy generation, an area for which there are also specific EU targets. In 2015, 25.3% of our electricity came from renewable sources and 9.1% of our overall energy requirements were met using renewable sources, meaning that we are just over halfway towards attaining our 2020 targets. We have come a long way towards increasing our renewable energy capacity but we have much more to do in order to meet our 2020 targets. While progress has been made in some areas, such as agriculture, almost no progress has been made in other areas since 2011, notably home heating and transport. We really have issues there. Between 2014 and 2015, we have observed a decline in the amount of renewable energy being used for home heating. This clearly needs to be addressed. In the short term, the lowest cost way to cut emissions from home heating would be to continue the shift away from oil heating and towards natural gas. We believe that the use of natural gas for home heating should be encouraged by supporting the roll out of the network.

I ask the Minister to make a real effort to put a plan in place that gets us in line with the targets that have been set, not just meeting the targets for the sake of eliminating the potential for fines, for doing what is right by the environment and ensuring we have an economy that works in tandem with our environment.

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