Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There is a review on the latter matter under way by the Minister at present and he will report to the House in due course.

The national dialogue on climate change will gather representatives of civil society to discuss and maximise consensus on climate actions. The Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government would hope that there will be a merger between the climate dialogue and the 2040 vision, which, I think, will be necessary. Obviously, it is envisaged that the dialogue will provide a mechanism to allow the mobilisation of strategic citizen and various group actions to address the climate challenges for Ireland. The briefing document, recently published, on the national mitigation programme and the statutory consultation to follow in mid-March are seen as a central part of the dialogue in terms of providing input on and, therefore, the prioritising and implementation of climate change policy.

The Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment is preparing proposals for the climate change national dialogue. These will come before the next Cabinet committee and will inform members.

The national mitigation plan will represent a whole-of-Government approach involving significant cross-departmental involvement that sets out exactly what Ireland is planning to do to further our transition to a low-carbon climate resilient and environmentally sustainable economy and development of Ireland's first statutory national mitigation plan represents a hugely important step in this transition.

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