Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister has said the Government amendment is to provide legal certainty on funding for projects where there will not be a competitive tender. Bog rehabilitation was the example the Minister gave in the Seanad last week. I understand and appreciate the rationale, but as my colleague, Senator Boylan, told the Seanad, and as I put it in this House last week, the Minister must put processes in place to ensure this mechanism is not misused by himself or his successors lest they wish to use it for their own pet projects. It is in everyone's best interests that the highest standards of financial governance and oversight would be in place. This money will be provided by the public, so it is important that there is transparency and accountability in the allocation of these funds. We take the Minister's bona fides on this and therefore we are happy to support the amended Bill.

I had asked for an updated figure on the current financial state of NORA. I understand that it could have a few hundred million euro in its accounts. The latest figures to which we had access were from August 2019. Will the Minister provide the Dáil with the latest figure in his closing statement?

I encourage the Minister to engage more with Deputies and Senators on future climate action legislation. This is our first exchange on legislation. There were some very positive amendments, though not my own, put forward in the Dáil and Seanad and it was a shame that they were not incorporated into the Bill. Most were not controversial and would have added value to the legislation.

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