Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The Bill also provides for the need to have regard to the social and economic imperative for early and cost-effective action, the need for a just transition which supports peoples and communities that may be negatively impacted and the need to maximise employment and the attractiveness of the State for investment.

The fact is that the means of achieving a carbon neutral economy and other measures to enable the State to pursue the national climate objective may not yet be fully identified and may evolve over time, through innovation, as the evolving scientific consensus and emerging technologies arrive. This objective of sharing the effort across the economy and over time is a key feature of the Bill.

Sectoral emissions ceilings identified and set for all relevant sectors of the economy will, in my view, drive the necessary restructuring to incentivise change and drive innovation across all sectors. The Bill also provides a greater level of oversight and accountability. Section 14A, which is a new section introduced by the Bill, will provide that the Minister with responsibility for climate action must give an account annually to a joint committee of the Oireachtas with regard to compliance with the carbon budget and progress under the climate action plan.

Other Ministers must also account for progress in their own sectors within the context of the adopted sectoral emissions ceilings, ensuring-----

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