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

As the Deputy has recognised, remote working and remote delivery of health services are really transformative opportunities. In the health area they have taken huge pressure off our hospital system. We are beginning to see that digital technology can revolutionise our environment.

For remote working, the estimate is that 10 KW hours per remote worker - a person who opts for that - per day is what is saved. I have asked my Department to calculate what that will be in carbon emissions but it is significant. If we cut our travel reliance it would be a very significant emission reduction.

In terms of what we have calculated, the only work that I have seen is from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, and its numbers are running around 6% or 7% but we do not know how the year will end up. Remote working definitely has had an impact on emissions but we will not know that until later in the year. Obviously I do not think anyone would want the way in which we achieve our emissions to be by having 1 million people effectively furloughed, on furlough or whatever the term is, either on Covid payments or with their employers very much limping along, but we can learn.

There are many other structural changes. As people start to re-evaluate their lives and the way they live them then not only will there be remote working but one will see different changes. People will recognise the merit of buying local so I think there will be a stronger emphasis on local purchasing and local materials. Obviously many countries will be re-evaluating their supply chains. That is not all good from an Irish perspective. There will be a re-evaluation of where we source our materials and how one delivers security will become more important so there are changes there.

I would be very much saying to people that, as they look to the coming years, they need to make structural decisions that put their homes, farms or enterprises into a stronger position in the face of the climate challenge and this pause is a very good time. I would be urging enterprise agencies, as part of their mandate to tackle climate, to ensure that for any company they support they would do an audit of how it is on climate resilience, energy efficiency and switching to renewable options. The same is true of homes. This time has been a reminder of the frailty of the environment we live in. People need to look at their lifestyles, as we reopen, to see what from the good practices that we have learned in the lockdown we can carry into more normal times. The management of our waste is a case. Many people being at home are not having the same food waste as they would have had when they lived their busy lives. We have very high levels of food waste in this country and it is estimated to be about €700 per household. That is something people could seriously look at as a win:win, saving themselves money, saving on the production of food and saving the carbon impact of sending food waste to a dump or an incinerator.

There are many dimensions where we can start to look at how we embed the structural changes we need. If anything good can come from Covid-19 it is for all of us to re-evaluate the way we relate to the environment around us and start to make those small changes. We have talked of breaking the habits of a lifetime and those are important habits to seek to break.

The challenge for the Government will be to ensure we protect those most exposed, vividly in the case of Bord na Móna workers, and to protect those least equipped to make the change. I hope schemes such as the warmer homes scheme can help people to make these choices. We have to make it easier for people.

A lot of reference has been made to cycling as an alternative to cars. I have been cycling in every day in recent weeks and it is a pleasure to do so. The council has made provision to make it safer to do so. This is something we can embed. On the other hand, we have trouble with our public transport. Despite it being the optimal way to travel, the social distance restrictions are creating real problems. There are many things we can do and the challenge for the House will be to identify those pathways and bring people with us along them.

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