Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I welcome this Bill and I commend the Labour Party on bringing it to the House. I asked for time to speak on this Bill, and I am grateful to the Minister of State, Deputy Troy, for facilitating me, because it is exactly the type of initiative we need in this House. As a Government Deputy, I recognise that the Government does not have all the answers as we face our immense climate challenge. We can, and must, seek out ideas from all parties in this House. I have already said this to Deputy Bacik, the climate spokesperson for the Labour Party, but in my capacity as Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Environment and Climate Action, if there is anything I can do to facilitate parties or Deputies not represented on our committee, I am more than happy to do so. We need every voice heard and we need every idea on the table.

While I accept some of the complexities outlined by the Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth, regarding the implementation of the measures suggested in the Bill, and we do need to be mindful of the impact on businesses, especially small businesses, I support its thrust and the general idea behind it.

I was fortunate to attend COP26 on behalf of the Joint Committee on the Environment and Climate Action. One of the initiatives the organisers took was to provide information on the carbon footprint of each dish the menu in the vast canteen at the conference venue. It made a difference, just to put that information in people's hands. I know it was probably a captive audience at COP26, but I believe people's purchasing decisions would change if they had the right information about the carbon footprint of the products they were buying. It is not about banning anything or forcing people to buy something; it is about empowering them with information.

It is also the case, as Deputy Bacik pointed out earlier, that people want to know. They want the information and they want to be empowered. We will see carbon labelling in this country sooner than we think, because that is where consumer demand is going. I recognise the work of the Minister of State's Department, in helping companies get ready for this green transition. Companies that have high scope 2 and scope 3 emissions will find themselves at a large disadvantage in the market compared to more sustainable competitors. Once again, I commend the Labour Party on bringing forward this Bill. I hope we can make progress in the next 12 months both here in Ireland and with our European colleagues. I look forward to future legislative initiatives from both sides of the House to help us tackle the climate crisis.

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