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

This council was appointed exactly as is set out in the law. It was appointed in the same way that the previous Climate Change Advisory Council was established. It was appointed after going through all the proper Government procedures, going to the Cabinet, giving advance notice and discussing it with colleagues both within the Department and within the Government. To my mind, this council has that correct mix of skills which not everyone has. They are very specific skills. As the Deputy mentions, these individuals have been recognised by being appointed by previous governments to similar bodies such as the Environmental Protection Agency. One of the individuals has unique experience in world energy policy and a variety of institutions that brings real expertise to the council. I do not believe this expertise would have been available elsewhere. I know a number of people on that council. If I was to exclude people who I know and have worked with in the past 30 years, it would diminish the skills that we need. We need a balance of different skills.

The Government, the Department and the Minister are best placed, as set out in the legislation, to be able to make that call. If I excluded people on the basis of having worked with me or knowing me in the past, that would not serve the Irish people well. As the Deputy said, the individuals that he mentioned absolutely have the necessary skills. I stand over the process. I believe it was correct and it was followed to the letter of the law. It is a law that was passed by a vast majority in this House, including Deputy Doherty's party, knowing the appointments procedures which we would and did follow. The critical thing now is what this council does and how we work collectively. If Sinn Féin wants to turn climate into a divisive issue, while accusing others of cronyism and so on, I do not think that serves the people in making this leap and incredible change.

The advisory council is well constituted and has done a good job to date. It will serve not just this Government but the next one. I do not believe that it will in any way reflect any partisan or other interests because someone might have worked with me in the past, or because there are 15 people on it from a range of diverse backgrounds. Some of them served on the previous council and I believed it was important to carry over that expertise. Some of them have expertise in just transition and social policy, which I believe it is important to include. Other people, who I have worked with, know the science and were needed. My Department, I as the Minister, and the Government acting collectively, acted correctly and appropriately in how we approached getting that balance and mix of the right people.

I look forward to questions about climate, how the budgets are set, and how we will fund this climate transition. If we do not have a carbon tax, where will we get the €5 billion? I would love to have questions on the substance because that is what people want. They want to know how we will make this leap. I do not think they want it to be turned into a politically divisive issue when the legislation was agreed and the process was followed. Let us sit down and talk about climate and have a real discussion about how we meet this challenge. That is what I would love to have questions about.

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