Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The position in the climate action plan we have produced is that we recognise there are clear obligations on Government to lead, there is a need to have effective policies designed, there needs to be fairness in the transition and there needs to be citizen empowerment. Those are the four pillars on which the plan is built. They are interlocking and they are not to be siloed off into different areas. Each is central to the work of the implementation group that is working from the Department of the Taoiseach with my Department, which is working right across Government to align the actions of all Government Ministries and bodies to support the climate action challenge.

Just transition must inform a wide range of policies that are operated by public bodies. For example, we will have a debate about the climate pricing issue and people will want to know where just transition comes into that. We will want to talk about strategies for retrofitting and just transition will rightly be part of that, as has already been indicated. We will want to look at the design of rural, urban and climate change funds and the type of calls and how they should be used to support initiatives and just transition challenges. We will want just transition to inform the work of IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, the education and training boards and the institutes of technology as they seek to develop opportunities. We will want to inform our work within the European Union as it looks at coal and peat platforms and how that can be supported.

Every element of government is at the heart of the just transition agenda and it goes to the core of the Government's obligation to lead on climate action. I have some misgivings about the scale of work the Bill envisages for this unelected body, as it flies in the face of the sort of accountability Deputies will demand of the Government and Ministers, in order to account for how we are going to deliver just transition in respect of the different challenges that come our way. A sense of Government responsibility is at the heart of that.

That said, I recognise that the design of just transition must involve a wide range of input and dialogue. That was brought home to me as I sought to grapple with the issues arising in Bord na Móna. I have met with the board and the workers' directors, as well as with public representatives, including some of the Deputies here, the regional transition team that has been set up in the midlands, the regional enterprise and skills teams, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, and EU coal and peat platforms, which are all valuable participants. I recognise that in designing a response to both this challenge and others, I need to draw together a cross-Government response. That is why, when we went to the Government after the announcement of the planning decision and challenge that made it established policy to seek a graduated exit from peat, the Government's very first decision was to form a cross-Government group which is being chaired from within the Department of the Taoiseach, in order that we can tap into a wider range of policy and skill areas to inform the sort of response we design.

It is important that just transition is seen as being at the heart of climate action policy, not as something that is hived out to an independent commission. There should be an expectation that the Government, in leading the climate action plan, will be taking responsibility for it. However, that does not mean the Government should not be held accountable, and just as we have recognised that the Climate Change Advisory Council's role needs to be strengthened in order to be more decisive in setting the framework within which the Government works, we also recognise that the National Economic and Social Council, NESC, a body I have worked with over many years which has representation across the social partnership interests, has an important role in helping to evaluate and identify the challenges the Government needs to meet. Within the climate action plan we have assigned that specific role to the NESC in order that it would be able to look at the transition needs of different cohorts and draw on international experience, but also examine the work we are doing in an appraising and critical way. It is important that we seek to develop and deliver best practice in just transition just as we seek to deliver best practice in addressing the wider challenges of climate action.

I recognise the need for us to collectively debate and shape just transition within the Oireachtas, and to interact as we always do in committees in analysing how well we are responding to different opportunities; how we are shaping those opportunities; whether the IDA, Enterprise Ireland, or other bodies are stepping up to the requirements; whether the regional enterprise strategy is adequate to the challenges in particular regions, and so on. That is important, but my concern about this Bill is that it goes way beyond what was envisaged by the Oireachtas joint committee, in that it has created a commission of quite extraordinary powers. The proposed commission would have the power to designate any body, be it public or private, regardless of its size, as coming under the obligations of this commission, and it would impose an onerous process on it without any clear regard as to the feasibility of that identity being able to deliver on those obligations, let alone remain in business while this process is developing.

The Bill will also create new dispute resolution mechanisms which will be parallel to experienced institutions such as the Workplace Relations Commission. I have concerns about the elaborate design that has been put into this Bill, which in many ways is seeking to give powers that most of us would regard as ultimately being the Government's responsibility to a commission. If issues were to arise, such as those in Moneypoint or Bord na Móna, people would want not to write to some commission; they would want us to be in here in the House debating the adequacy of the response, and looking at whether we can do new things, such as wider bog restoration, retrofitting in the midlands, or other initiatives that are needed in the midlands to drive forward our regional enterprise strategy and seize the opportunities of a low-carbon economy. Those issues go to the heart of government. Different Ministers should be taking responsibility for issues within a coherent climate action plan in order to deliver the sort of response we need for just transition. If we take that away and do not make it an integral part of what I and other Ministers have to do, and do not make ourselves accountable to the Oireachtas, we will fall short, and people will feel just transition has been shoved out into this body and is not going to the heart of what we in government need to do.

I understand the thinking behind this Bill and it is important that we bring it before a committee in order to analyse and evaluate the needs and structures we need to deliver. That is worthwhile. However, in developing the structures of the climate action plan and its capacity to work across the Government, and by putting in place actions that are monitored and delivered in a coherent way from the centre of government, I hope we can be in a position to deliver a just transition, which everyone now recognises goes to the very heart of a successful climate action plan.

Some people say town hall meetings are not always the best way of engaging with people but I have held many town hall meetings and have met many people who are anxious, concerned, and who recognise that they need to do something. Tomorrow's climate strike will reinforce that need. Many people are confused and they need to be empowered and engaged with, and finding better ways of engaging with those people is also very much at the heart of government. The climate action plan contains some good initiatives around green schools, expanding sustainable energy communities, and new forms of dialogue at local level to engage people much like the Citizens' Assembly did at national level. Many of these policy instruments are valuable, but I believe they need to be at the heart of the plan, and citizens' engagement, just transition, Government leadership, and the choice of best practice policy initiatives need to be pillars of the plan as well. I understand peoples' concerns, which I am sure will be expressed here, because these issues challenge us and managing a just transition in the face of these challenges will be a test of the Government. We have to design policy instruments that are more attuned to the ability and leverage the Government needs to apply, and to the accountability we need to have in this House.

6 o’clock

That is my sense of this and I look forward to the engagements in the committee to tease out how we manage this in an effective way.

I am aware that some Deputies will be concerned about the passage of the Bill. I assure the House that no issue is getting more attention from me than this challenge, especially in respect of Bord na Móna and the midlands region. This is a very serious issue and we are giving it serious attention as we seek to ensure, to the best of our ability, that we protect workers who have been very loyal and committed over a long period. We also recognise that the wider region, beyond the workers who are directly affected, is challenged by this situation. We need to evolve policies that recognise both sets of challenges. We will continue to work hard to develop those responses.

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