Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We all agree that tackling climate change requires a suite of measures that must all tie in together and speak to each other. It has to be about tax and regulation, but also investment. We have set out a large part of the investment piece in Project Ireland 2040, but that will only bring us about one third of the way to meeting our targets for 2030. It will involve measures such as investment in renewable energy; taking coal out of Moneypoint in 2025; getting out of peat, and the Deputy will have seen what is happening in that regard already; retrofitting homes, schools and buildings; electric vehicles; investment in public transport measures such as MetroLink, BusConnects and other projects around the country; and big changes in agriculture, for example, much more forestry and investment in technologies such as beef genomics.

Tax has to be a part of this. It is an area we need to get right. I am conscious of what happened in Australia where the government tried and failed to bring in a carbon tax and the country has been set back by ten or 20 years as a result. It was a little like what happened here with water charges. I see what is now happening in France where President Macron is facing massive protests for increasing taxes on fuel. If we are going to do this, let us do it successfully. Let us get it right and learn from the mistakes of other countries and the mistakes we made in trying to introduce water charges, which was the right thing to do from an environmental point of view. The model I personally favour is that which Prime Minister Trudeau is pursuing in Canada. I had a chance to speak to him about it around two weeks ago.

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