Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

It has been 83 days since the committee handed back the recommendations so I hope the time the Minister has taken has been to incorporate those recommendations, not to get rid of them. The frustrating thing for me is the sense of urgency with this. There was a huge sense of urgency in getting this Bill up and running. I do not know if the Minister can picture that image by the Spanish sculptor of a group of politicians sitting around discussing climate change and how we deal with it, as the water rises above their heads. To me, that is what it feels like. Our biggest risk, and the most problematic issue here, is our ability and the ability of a bureaucratic system to deal with things quickly.

One of the previous questions I had hoped to ask the Minister this evening, although I did not get an opportunity to do so, was in regard to CETA and its implications for any legislation. Does the Minister foresee any issues in regard to CETA once this Bill is passed into law in terms of being able to bring in the policies we need to see brought in to address climate change?

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