Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Taoiseach for his response.

I attended the event of the launch of the national planning framework last week in Maynooth. I agreed with much of what the Taoiseach said about the need for the State to prepare and have a vision for the future, and to start taking the technological changes that are happening and advance them, and be in the lead, and create employment, create prosperity and create a better society in that process, but when it comes to the issue of climate change, nothing is happening in the State.

The briefing notes on the climate mitigation plan came out last week and there is nothing new in it. There is no ambition.

Increasingly, all the analysis internationally is mentioning Ireland as a laggard. We are mentioned in the same breath as Poland. That is how bad it is now, internationally. We are one of only two countries which will not meet their 2020 climate targets. A report last week by the European Union states we will not meet our renewables targets. It will cost us a fortune, not only in fines but in missing out on the economic opportunity.

Following the national climate dialogue where the environmental community went to a previous climate meeting and presented a host of innovative initiatives as to how one could get dialogue going, they have heard nothing back. All we hear about is maybe some schools programme and some regional meetings - no ambition.

None of what the Taoiseach stated at the launch of the national planning framework about what we need to do is happening on climate. The whole system is effectively saying, "Do nothing, wait ten years and see what happens to the rest of the world and then we might do something." That is a big mistake.

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