Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank everyone who contributed to this debate. I am different from the former Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, and many environmentalists in that I believe we need to bring people with us. I do not disagree with anything that Deputy Eamon Ryan said; in fact, I agree wholeheartedly with what he said bar one point.

We have had lecturers for the past ten, 15 or 20 years on climate change, and we are not making the required progress. We have seen the results of what happens when people's livelihoods are threatened in the United States, who has been elected and the impact on the global agenda which will reverberate across the globe unless we get serious about climate.

Deputy Stanley and I come from the midlands where wind type turbines are an issue. A decision was made that there was only one solution to the provision of renewable energy, namely, large-scale wind farms in the midlands. I want a complete review of our renewable energy policy. Onshore and offshore wind and solar energy are part of that - I never said solar was not - but I would be disingenuous if I told the farmers of this country that I will allow consumers to fund 5 GW of solar energy. To put that in plain English, it means that if one switched off every single power generator in the country, including every single wind turbine, we could turn on all the solar panels and export electricity from the country. I would be irresponsible if I encouraged people to go down the road of the large bubble that is being created. People need to be realistic. Solar energy and offshore wind energy are part of the solution. That is why one of the first things I did as Minister was to sign an international agreement with all the countries in the North Sea on sharing our information and technology and developing that resource.

Not one speaker acknowledged the fact we are one of, I understand, two or three member states in Europe where the climate Minister is also the energy Minister. That is a significant step forward. Previous Ministers had to go cap-in-hand to other Ministers to try to get movement on some of the more challenging areas. I have the necessary tools within my Department to deal with energy.

We are working very well with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Not one speaker mentioned one of the most radical steps taken by the previous Government, namely, the beef data genomic scheme. Nowhere else in the world is this happening. When I visited Marrakesh a couple of weeks ago and met my counterparts from New Zealand, Uruguay and Argentina they were all very interested in the project because they view it as a model to move to a greener and more carbon efficient way of producing food.

We need to start bringing people with us. We have the opportunity to do so. We could continue the old approach of bulldozing ahead and telling people we are going to do this, that or the other. That will not work because people will rally against it. Let us start working together towards our objectives. Over the next six weeks a number of consultation documents about the renewable heat incentive scheme and the mitigation plan will be published. People can feed into those and work together to deliver on this agenda.

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