Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing time with Deputies Fitzmaurice and McNamara.

The Minister referred to how recent developments have impacted on our greenhouse gas emissions. Sadly, that has nothing to do with Government policy. Rather, we can thank Covid-19 for it. It is probably the only good to come out of the current situation. Is the best we can hope for that that situation will continue? I do not think so.

The Minister stated that the Government achieved its targets for 2019 early. However, again, that had nothing to do with Government policy. The reduction in 2019 can be completely put down to the closure for maintenance of the ESB coal-fired electricity plant at Moneypoint. During the closure, we met our electricity demand. That showed that the required reduction is achievable through renewable energy if we wish to do so. The thing about the Government plan is that there seems to be a lot of planning or talking about planning, but not much actual work. Maybe all the talk about plans will lead to a significant reduction in the final years of the plan and there will be significant reductions in 2027 to 2030, inclusive. Unfortunately, I do not think that will be the case.

The climate action (amendment) Bill appears to be the main plank of the Government's plan. It is at the early stages of planning within the Department. I believe it will take the full lifetime of the next Government to pass the Bill. I acknowledge that the Minister is part of a transition Government and cannot control how it will be progressed, but the timeframe laid out in the transition statement is optimistic, to say the least. The Government approved the general scheme of the Bill at the end of 2019, but slippage was inevitable on its commitment to publish the Bill in the first quarter of 2020.

The commitment to offshore wind generation in the recently announced tender is very welcome. It is the option that can meet our targets into the future. I am concerned that the Minister recently stated that the Government has not yet decided whether the power produced will be taken ashore by the State or by private enterprise. I think that must be done by the State. There should be a limited number of landfalls, all of them run by the State, to ensure that vital infrastructure will stay in our control into the future.

The significant job potential in the offshore wind sector cannot be underestimated. Many fishermen already work in the offshore wind industry in the UK, Germany and Denmark. They are well qualified and sought after to make that system work. Surely, they could benefit from having that type of work available here. In addition, boat-building businesses could very quickly move to building work boats to facilitate the construction of offshore wind farms. There will be a need for other vessels to undertake tasks, including the management of developed wind farms. There is significant potential in this area for indigenous industry and workers. If we get it right now, we could ensure all of our people could benefit from that development.

An area on which the Government could do a lot without doing too much and easily reach the requirements is that of domestic generation. People could generate electricity in their homes, particularly through the usage of solar panels, and put it back into the grid. There needs to be a way to show how much power goes back into the grid. Although domestic producers of power may not be paid for it, just showing the benefits that result from using green technology to send power back into the electricity grid would have a significant impact and could free up the grid for other things. That step is vitally important and very easy to do. The Government would not have to do very much to make it happen.

See this speech in context