Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I will try to give a quick summary of some of the points that have been raised.

The comments of Deputy Connolly in particular are most welcome. I wholeheartedly agree with her. This fund will be driven largely by communities, it is very much open-ended and it will range from small community grants of €5,000 up to large-scale projects. That is what is innovative and unique about this approach. We certainly do not want the narrative that it is anti-rural or that there is an urban-rural divide. I disagree wholeheartedly with some previous comments that this is anti-rural. It is, if anything, the opposite. It is going to support rural communities to enable them to make the transition to low carbon. It certainly is a reducing levy. If it is effective, it will be tested by the reduction in the revenue coming from the oil industry over time. The NORA fund will reduce if it is working well as we decarbonise our society.

Comments were made about the levy increasing. There is no increase - it is a fixed 2 cent levy. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae said that this is the start of it, and it is. It is the start of a revolution in this country. It has been recognised as such and as a very innovative fund. It is about the rehabilitation of bogs. Deputy Whitmore mentioned nature-based solutions and that is what this fund will support as well. We certainly have no place for Shannon LNG and the importation of fracked gas into the country, or for oil and gas exploration to be continued. We have to keep it in the ground and this fund will support that.

I welcome the comments made by Deputies and the work done by the former Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Denis Naughten, in initiating this Bill. I will not say any more. Some of the more detailed questions that have been put to us will be teased out on Committee Stage.

In conclusion I want to say that the Government's aim is to enact this Bill quickly. While it is quite short, it serves two very important purposes. It establishes the climate action fund on a statutory basis and provides for the use of the NORA levy fund to finance it. Therefore, it is an important vehicle to support the State in achieving the overarching need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while at the same time providing support for projects that will make a real impact on our economic recovery over the next few years. These projects will span urban and rural settings, public transport and biodiversity. All of those projects will be considered in this proposal.

The projects supported by the fund will be sustainable and innovative. It will upskill our workforce through apprenticeship programmes and the green economy and provide real benefits to communities in every region of the State.

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