Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Bríd Smith for raising this important matter and taking it into the Chamber.

It is worth setting the scene, in terms of how the Government is approaching climate change, which is undoubtedly one of the biggest global challenges of our time. The decisions we make cut across almost all the different sectors of our economy, be it farming, housing, transport, industry or job creation. Our energy and climate policies are all closely interlinked, meaning a change to one element of our approach can have significant effects on other elements. As such, a holistic approach is essential.

The scale and complexity of the challenge demands a co-ordinated approach, at both national and international level. At international level, Ireland is committed to concerted multilateral action to tackle climate change through the Paris Agreement. The Paris Agreement requires that all parties produce plans to reduce emissions and adapt to climate change, and show increasing ambition over time with these plans. Ireland's obligation will form part of the European Union's overall commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels.

Nationally, Ireland's first National Mitigation Plan sets out this Government's collective approach to reducing the country's greenhouse gas emissions. It represents the first in what will be a series of strong roadmaps for action across all sectors to make progress towards Ireland's national transition objective. The plan takes a whole-of-Government approach to tackling greenhouse gas emissions. Progress on this work is collectively reported on by Government on an annual basis in its annual transition statement. The Government has already implemented a wide range of policies and measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across the economy and we will work on an ongoing basis to make further progress towards our national transition objective.

There are 106 individual actions in the National Mitigation Plan, including the introduction of a renewable heat incentive; the finalisation of a renewable electricity support scheme; DCCAE capital funding for 2018 which will be invested in sustainable energy projects which will save over 120,000 tonnes in carbon emissions every year, supporting 3,500 jobs, mainly, in rural areas, while also reducing our dependence on imported fossil fuels; and the allocation of additional resources to stimulate and support electric vehicles take-up in the high visibility taxi sector and to develop a new toll incentive regime for zero emission and ultra-low emitting cars.

Renewable ocean energy can also play a critical role in helping Ireland meet its long-term energy and climate targets. While some offshore renewable energy technologies show promise in the near term, rigorous testing must precede deployment at scale. Some technologies, such as floating wind and tidal, are not likely to be deployed at scale until the mid-2020s onwards, with wave from approximately 2030. I am aware of examples in Ulster. In my own province, there is work between Queen's University and Letterkenny Institute of Technology, LYIT, into further research in this area. It is an INTERREG supported project and involves sharing practice from different aspects of the industry in Scotland as well.

Nevertheless, Government recognises the opportunities offered by Ireland's ocean energy resource and is putting in place today the building blocks that will enable Ireland's future offshore renewable energy industry. The offshore renewable energy test sites in Mayo and Galway Bay, along with the Lir National Ocean Test Facility in Cork, represent a full suite of world-class test facilities to help develop this promising resource.

These actions, and the many others in the plan, will result in reducing our fossil fuel use progressively to a point where we can reach our long-term vision of an aggregate reduction in carbon dioxide emissions of at least 80% by 2050 across the electricity generation, built environment and transport sectors but that is not to say that more is not needed.

Turning to the fossil fuels we use, and let us be clear we will continue to use them for quite some time, neither the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change nor the International Energy Agency envisages a 100% renewable energy electricity system. Therefore, some fossil fuel will remain a component of our future energy mix.

There are clear climate benefits that natural gas offers over coal and peat in power generation, while at the same time providing flexible generation to support renewables on the system. There is also considerable progress being made on the role that natural gas and renewable gas can play in our transport system, particularly in the freight sector, which is a notably challenging area to decarbonise.

Turning to our use of oil, I have already mentioned that actions are being taken by Government to support a change from diesel and petrol cars to electric ones. However, there are some elements of the transport sector which will be especially challenging to decarbonise, in particular the aviation and marine transport sectors.

Efforts to date have largely been focussed on energy efficiency rather than alternative modes of transport. As an island nation, we are especially reliant on both of these modes of transport. The fossil fuels we import increasingly come from more distant parts of the world and the further afield they come from, the worse impact they can have on the climate, as it takes considerable energy to deliver them.

We also have to consider carefully Ireland's energy security. Security of supply is often not on a par with other considerations when designing energy policy, especially when things are going well. However, in the words of the European Commission, the EU had a stark "wake-up" call following gas supply disruptions in 2006 and 2009.

The good news is that fossil fuels will no longer be our single source of energy security and the measures we have to hand to deal with energy security are continually evolving with increasing levels of renewables, developments in energy storage, the potential for further grid interconnections and the continued roll-out of energy efficiency. We must, however, coldly analyse and assess what they can deliver and over what timeframe. Of course, these real and challenging issues should in no way curb our ambition but, nevertheless, cannot be simply set-aside or wished away.

I will leave my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Seán Kyne, to deal with the Bill itself.

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