Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Minister on the announcement on the investment in the arts. I also congratulate the campaigners from the National Campaign for the Arts who were making the case. The arts are extremely important to this country. This area is often one of the only avenues where people from disadvantaged or diverse backgrounds can give voice to their experience. It is a very welcome investment and greatly needed. Hopefully there will be more to come.

I will start by reading into the record a quote from the summary of the biodiversity climate change sectoral adaptation plan:

By the end of the century, climate change is likely to become the most significant driver of biodiversity loss. Increases in temperature will change the timing of life cycle events and the distribution of species. The physical impact of more intense storms and increased winter/spring rainfall will accelerate the degradation of habitats that are already compromised by unsustainable practices.

I am delighted to be able to come here and report on the Minister's actions under the 2019 annual transition statement. I remind the House that it was my colleague, Deputy Alan Kelly, who introduced the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015, under which the Minister is here reporting on her Department's responsibilities under the annual transition statement.

It is important that the work started by a Labour Party Minister is continuing here today. While specifically holding the Minister, Deputy Madigan, to account, it is also important that the next Government kicks on to deliver on climate change with an urgency that perhaps the last Government failed to do. The climate is too important an issue to be the subject of petty wrangling for political positioning or to be the preserve or responsibility of one party.

In 2018 I am happy that we in the Labour Party helped to lead and drive the Committee on Climate Action to adopt the concept of carbon budgets and we look forward to supporting appropriate measures in the strengthening and implementation of these budgets. There may be times when support is needed from across the Chamber and I speak for my party colleagues when I reassure all of those who are serious about tackling climate change that the Labour Party will intend to share the responsibility of everyone in the House to deliver on Ireland's international target commitments.

This brings me to two sectoral areas for which the Minister and the Department are responsible - the built and archaeological heritage sector and biodiversity. I have three broad questions for the Minister. My first question is on the Department's own direct emissions. What action has been taken to evaluate emissions from within the Department or subsidiary organisations such as the National Parks and Wildlife Service? Have they invested in electric vehicles and in making buildings more energy efficient? Does the Minister know if the Department is walking the walk in its own day-to-day emissions?

My second question is on the built and archaeological heritage climate change sectoral adaptation plan. It is clear from the plan that the Department has identified significant threats to some of the most important cultural physical heritage in the State. There are a number of case studies. The threat identified to Trinity College Dublin and the damage done to coastal areas in Portrane are examples of the scale of the potential threat. What, if any, framework does the Department propose to put in place to identify when hard coastal measures will be justifiable to protect Dublin city and our heritage? What coastal defence measures will be needed?

My third question is on the responsibilities of the biodiversity adaptation plan. Will the Minister indicate what work has been put in place to resolve the inevitable conflict between the protection and preservation of habitats, and the need to develop the infrastructure needed to help reduce our emissions? I am referring to transport infrastructure such as cycleways and walkways, renewable energy infrastructure such as offshore and onshore wind, and coastal defence projects. It may be necessary to protect our coastal towns, villages and cities, which are often built close to areas under the responsibility of the National Parks and Wildlife Service. Are any measures being taken to try to have a standard and scientific approach to decide how we will resolve the conflict between such projects and our biodiversity responsibilities?

I commend the Department and the Minister for the depth of both sectoral reports, and I commend those who worked on and prepared those reports.

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