Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing time with Deputies Daly, Tully, Clarke and Mythen.

This amending Bill introduces targets into hazy and ambiguous legislation dating from 2015. It comes as no surprise that the coalition Cabinet at that time, led by Fine Gael, introduced a half-baked Bill to appease the growing ecological lobby. Under scrutiny, there were found to be major issues with that legislation, mainly the lack of any specific greenhouse gas emissions targets. Even though all the right jargon and buzzwords were present, the legislation lacked something vital, namely, accountability. Luckily, a number of grassroots and civic society groups in Ireland have been hard at work, relentlessly following up on the promises of Government and advocating that the State's commitments under international obligations and the European Convention on Human Rights be honoured.

As the imminence of ecological instability looms and the pattern of freak natural disasters becomes more associated with the effects of climate change, people are taking matters into their own hands. 2020 saw an increase in droughts, forest fires, floods and tropical storms across the globe. In this country, the forest fire in Killarney National Park ravaged much of the estate land and was a direct effect of the climate crisis. A increase in temperature leads to less precipitation, meaning fires can spread more easily. Everything is interconnected when it comes to the natural world. The environment is an area in which, internationally, there has been almost a consensus among states to introduce reactionary policies instead of paying heed to the growing body of evidence published by climate scientists and ecologists over the past 20 to 30 years. Here in Ireland, local and national groups such as Friends of the Earth, VOICE Ireland, Extinction Rebellion Ireland and, in my constituency, Futureproof Clare, have tirelessly resisted the decimation of our planet's biodiversity by corporations.

I refer to an issue of particular concern to my constituents, namely, the Shannon liquefied natural gas, LNG, project to develop a fracked gas import terminal on the Shannon Estuary. New Fortress Energy is seeking to construct this terminal and an equivalent facility in County Longford, despite the fact that fracked gas generates extremely damaging net carbon emissions. Sadly, although the issue of fracked gas was used as a talking point in the programme for Government, the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, is yet to produce a report, guideline or, at the very least, statement outlining his stance on fracked gas. I urge him to do so.

The main issue with the Shannon LNG project is that it features on the fourth European Projects of Common Interest, PCI, list, which means, in effect, that it can bypass standard planning requirements, namely, approval through An Bord Pleanála, and avoid any risk assessments that would impede its development. It is very concerning that there are 32 natural gas infrastructure projects listed on the PCI. This could lead to the wasting of €29 billion of European public funds, which amounts to an inordinate mismanagement of public expenditure. Proceeding with those projects seems highly illogical and myopic if we are truly intent, as an international community, on curbing our reliance on fossil fuels. The central loophole in this Bill is that the Government, as an agent or actor, is exempt from the list of relevant bodies that must adhere to mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. This loophole has been exploited by the Cabinet in its pursual of keeping the Shannon LNG project on the PCI list against the recommendation of an Oireachtas committee, following its pre-legislative scrutiny of the Bill, that a ban on the importation of fracked gas and the development of LNG terminals should be explicitly stipulated.

In summary, the aspects of the amending Bill that remain substandard are the omission of a blanket ban on fracked gas and the weak definition of just transition. Both are areas where I am convinced that ambiguity will lead to ineffective or redundant policy issues and conflicts in the future.

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