Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Government amendment sidesteps the issue and takes us off on a diversion. It mentions the fact that €85 million from the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund is put into forestry and that is positive but it is a separate issue. This is about fossil fuels and the wording of the amendment is a diversion designed to take us off in another direction in order that we do nothing for the next couple of years. We have done very little for the past 20 years about this issue. Some of us in this House supported the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill a little over a year ago on the basis that, while it was not everything we wanted, it was better than nothing, but progress has been very disappointing and we are now looking for opt-out clauses and to backslide on our international obligations. I commend Deputy Pringle on bringing forward this Bill. We support the Bill as it is in line with Sinn Féin's commitment to build a greener economy and to play our role as a country in moving away from dependence on fossil fuels and as a polluter.

From the outset we should admit that the effect of this Bill will be primarily symbolic as the actual investments in fossil fuel companies made by the NTMA are quite limited. However, symbolism is important and we do not want to downplay the importance, as a State and as a people, of making a statement and acting where we can act in cases where public money is invested.

The NTMA, through the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, ISIF, would be barred from investing in fossil fuel industries if this Bill were passed. There are very sound environmental and economic reasons why the NTMA should take this approach. Fossil fuels are yesterday’s fuels, or soon will be. It is progressive and forward looking to move beyond a reliance on fossil fuels and to look to the future. The NTMA and ISIF have served Ireland well and make a massive contribution to the financial stability and the infrastructure of the State. They could be doing far more though, and that they are not is largely down to the ideological and wrong-headed rules which derive from the European Union about what type of investments this arm of the State can and cannot make. ISIF holds more than €7 billion in assets and cash on behalf of the people to be invested on their behalf. Ireland has a massive housing crisis and it requires billions of investment to bring our health infrastructure up to standard, yet the ISIF’s mandate is so limited that it cannot act or can only act under such strict conditions that its impact is minimal in these areas. It has to operate on a strictly commercial basis but the majority of households in this State still do not have a proper energy rating. In other countries they have devised such things as green bonds, where one can put in money, invest on a commercial basis and get the money back over a period of time through a reduction in energy use which can save householders money. Such funds can reap commercial benefits.

Our approach would mean human rights considerations would always be incorporated into investment decisions. I am sure there will be some who make excuses as to why this Bill should not pass or who argue that it will constrain our choices. Those arguments are nonsense, morally and economically. There is no future in fossil fuels. Why are they ripping up the ground? Trump is coming to power tomorrow and we will see more fracking, causing huge damage to the environment in the Arctic and other places, including in America.

On a global level, 2016 has been recorded as the hottest year since records began while the past three years have consecutively broken records, and that is of huge concern. Some of us have children and grandchildren and we have a responsibility to those who come behind us. This is not the Dark Ages. We are supposed to be enlightened and understand all these things. The effects of global warming are not just felt far away in some place like Ethiopia. It is no longer good enough to put a few bob in a collection tin for the black babies as that day is gone. We have a responsibility to act in their interest but also in our own and the generations who will come after us. We have seen the effects of it with cornfields swamped with water in August on the plains of Kildare, the driest county in the country. We have seen towns flooded and we have been running around trying to put up fences against the floods. Grain farmers came to the House yesterday to protest over their losses and for their need for financial compensation because of the harm wet weather did to their crops last year. The environmental and economic effects of climate change are here now and we cannot dodge them.

Fossil fuels represent less and less of a sound investment.

7 o’clock

It is widely acknowledged among the scientific community that if we are to avoid a catastrophic increase of more than 2° in global temperatures, 80% of all known fossil fuel reserves must stay in the ground.

The Ireland Strategic Investment Fund currently has investments of more than €100 million in the fossil fuel industry. This public money is invested against the public interest. There has been a growing trend in recent years of investment funds divesting all or part of their holdings in producers of oil, gas and coal. To date, 689 institutions have moved an estimated €400 billion away from fossil fuels. Approximately 10,000 Irish people have signed a petition calling on the Government to stop investing in fossil fuels. I commend the students in Trinity College who launched a successful campaign that resulted in the university making a commitment to divesting from fossil fuels. I understand that NUI Galway and Queen's University are currently moving in the same direction.

Divestment from fossil fuels must be accompanied by a sustained effort on the part of the State to invest sensibly in the provision of renewable energy infrastructure and in research and development activity that will bring about future renewable energy technologies. Ireland's current energy needs are still 93% dependent on fossil fuels, 85% of which is imported. Investment in the development of our native renewable resources is necessary to secure Ireland's energy and economic needs into the future. The share of renewable energy in total energy consumption in Ireland sits at 7.8%. While Ireland’s share of energy from renewable sources is increasing, it is still approximately a third below the OECD average and just over half the EU average. Over the years, the poor long-term planning and decision-making of successive Governments, based on short-term political gain, has left Ireland trailing when it comes to renewable energy provision. As a result, we have an environmentally unsustainable economy.

Sinn Féin wants to be part of the change that is needed. We believe in strong and robust measures that will move Ireland away from fossil fuel dependency. We want to encourage international companies to move away from the fossil fuel industry and towards clean renewables. We look forward to working with others on this Bill. We intend to table amendments to it to deal with issues regarding definitions and other matters. We broadly support this Bill. We look forward to trying to improve the Bill on Committee Stage. We want to be part of the movement towards divestment. There are issues, as I have said. As representatives and delegates of the people, we have been sent to this House to do the right thing here. We have an obligation to show leadership and to set out our position. This country has a significant opportunity to develop alternative forms of energy in areas like wind, wave, hydro, anaerobic digestion and solar. We have an abundance of untapped sources of onshore and offshore wind, wave and hydro power. We need to invest our money in such areas, rather than in the fossil fuel industries of yesteryear.

We need to do the ethical thing for the generations to come and for the developing world. Some of the islands of the Philippines are nearly being washed away. We cannot stand back from the appalling tragedies that are happening in front of our eyes. We cannot flick over to "Coronation Street" when they appear on our television screens. Regardless of where we stand on the political spectrum, we have a responsibility in this regard. This is going to affect everybody in the future. Please God the man who is taking power in America tomorrow will not be there for too long. That is my biggest hope.

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