Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to discuss climate action, what we have been doing, what our future is, what our plans are and what the Government's plan and vision is on it. Initially, I had anticipated it was statements on the climate action plan but we do not yet have that. I ask the Minister to make sure that, when that document is published, we have sufficient time to discuss it in full as it will be an incredibly important document for us.

I will use this opportunity to reflect on Ireland's role in the UN General Assembly in the context of climate change, and on our role at a global level and how that translates into what we do at a local and national level. As President of the UN General Assembly for the month of September and as a member of the UN Security Council, Ireland is in a very unique position to showcase an ambitious agenda of climate action, an agenda that holds the environment, biodiversity and individuals front and centre of our response to climate change, both in our own national climate action plan and on the world stage. The Taoiseach chaired a Security Council debate on climate and security where he stated, “There is no time to waste”.

On the upcoming COP26 meeting in November, the Taoiseach stated that member states should "muster the courage to take bold and ambitious action." I welcome that Ireland is putting climate action front and centre of what will be the most important global alliance in our fight against climate change but there is the question as to whether Ireland itself is front and centre of that climate action. The words spoken by our leader to the world cannot simply be empty rhetoric; they must be actionable. The Minister spoke about turning rhetoric into action as well and how that is fundamental and essential to how we meet our climate challenge. There is an urgency in implementing measures that will result in profound, prolonged and sustained reductions in our carbon emissions, which is something we can proudly showcase to the world. Unfortunately, to date Ireland has been wasting time when it comes to climate action and we have not been taking those bold and ambitious actions that the Taoiseach spoke of so eloquently. When I come into the Chamber, and particularly when I am in debates with the Minister, I find myself divided. He talks passionately about what he wants to see from a climate, biodiversity and environmental perspective and he outlines his plans and his proposals, and I think I can get on board with those. They are what I want to see happen in this country. Our vision for that is quite often aligned. My difficulty is when I realise then that what we are seeing on the ground does not match the Minister's words in the Chamber.

We have heard specific examples from other Deputies of where the ambition of Government is not translating on the ground to individuals. I welcome the fact that there was additional funding for retrofitting grants but people are facing a two-and-a-half year waiting list before they even get a surveyor. I was contacted by an elderly woman in County Wicklow who has been waiting two years to get her home retrofitted and she said she will go private because she cannot bear another cold winter in her home. That is the kind of lack of action that we are seeing on the ground and how it is impacting on individuals.

The Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Ossian Smyth, spoke passionately about the circular economy. That is fundamental to how we will address our climate and environmental crisis but there has been little action in this regard either. I have spoken to the Minister, the Taoiseach and the Minister of State, regarding a company which is engaged in the circular economy. It is trying to get approvals for end-of-waste licences and it, also, is waiting for two years. The Minister's response is that legislation is pending and, hopefully, that will address the issue. This company is about to move to Northern Ireland and we could lose that positive business here. It is about how we translate the policies that the Minister is saying we will focus on. They need to be felt on the ground. I do not know what the blockages are, including whether it is a resourcing blockage, but there needs to be a focus on making sure that there are tangible changes in people's lives.

I also have a concern about the Minister's statements yesterday. We had a long debate on the issue of data centres and energy security yesterday. During the debate, he stated, "The increase in data centre demand was forecasted and is ... in line with forecasts." I found that statement quite disconcerting. He had left the Chamber when I responded and I will take this opportunity to raise it with him. That statement begs the question as to whether the Government has consciously planned or facilitated this growth in data centres in the full knowledge and understanding of what the impact could be. When I talk of impact, I mean rising energy prices, the blackouts that are forecast and the fact that we will now have to have electricity generated through coal- and oil-fired stations again, and the impact that will have on our climate ambitions. I also mean the impact that it will have on individuals. With rising electricity prices, the Government is moving the burden to individuals and not placing the burden of addressing this on industry. When the Taoiseach states that we cannot waste time in our response to climate change, that is exactly what we are doing in this context.

We have prioritised the needs of big industry over individuals as we attempt to transition to a zero-carbon economy. That can only spell one thing, and that is failure. We will fail to meet our renewable energy targets, fail to act against climate change and fail our people who struggle in the face of energy price hikes and energy shortages in the meantime. Individuals will be expected to make the financial and lifestyle sacrifices to reduce their carbon footprint and it is a big ask when the same is not being expected of data centres. A bold and ambitious action, such as that the Taoiseach spoke of, on this would have been to set limits on the energy demand from data centres, to condition them, to make sure they were going in the right places, to make sure they were operating in the right manner and to consciously decide what proportion of our energy we would set aside for data centres. That has not happened and Ireland is now at risk of showcasing its failure to act on the international stage as a result.

We can talk here about climate change and climate action and a lot of the time it is quite technical. We need to bring it back down to the level where it is tangible for people how much of an impact it will have on their lives. We need to consider what sacrifices are being made by them to reduce their carbon footprint. Deputy Leddin spoke earlier about the Irish values, and he is correct. Irish people showcase such a community spirit and values of inclusivity and solidarity. We saw that throughout Covid. We can see it through our vaccination programme. We have such a fantastic way of putting the community before our individual needs. Those values will help us address climate action and meet the challenges that we face. However, if we force individuals to make those sacrifices and to be the ones who have to pay for electric vehicles, who have to retrofit their homes and who have to change the fuels that they are using while paying a carbon tax on their fuels, and if we expect those individuals to do that at a cost to themselves and do not expect the same of data centres, we will not be able to rely on the solidarity of people when we are dealing with climate change. It will lead to a divided society and it will undermine what we need to do. We will only achieve what we need to achieve on the environment if we do it together and in a fair way. Irish people will work as a community to deal with this, but only if it is fair. If they believe they are being treated unfairly, they will not engage and they will not support it.

I ask that in the coming weeks prior to the budget, the Minister focuses on the immediate impacts on individuals and communities. Many of the issues we are talking require long-term actions. Even the retrofitting programme will take a number of years to get up and running, so what are the immediate measures that can be taken to ensure that people can get through this winter and meet the challenges that are being placed on their individual homes over the coming weeks and months? I ask that the Minister ensures that the carbon taxes that we accrue at present are shared fairly and that we use those to assist people get over the winter and assist them to make the changes that we will expect them. I would also ask that the Minister make sure that it is done fairly and that he put an equally high requirement and burden on the corporate sector as he will on individuals.

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