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

Yesterday I had the honour of attending the Norwegian constitution day celebrations at the ambassador's residence with a number of other guests, including Members of this Oireachtas. It was a great occasion and I got to meet a number of people who are working on developing the wind energy sector in Ireland. Indeed, the Norwegians are very interested in what Ireland plans to do in that regard. I had a very interesting conversation with Mr. Liam Curran of Enterprise Ireland and Mr. Cormac Gebruers of the National Maritime College of Ireland in Ringaskiddy, Cork. At the risk of quoting Tracy Chapman, we were talking about a revolution; a revolution that Ireland is going to experience in energy generation. We are going to become a net energy exporter. I see Deputy Devlin smiling. He attends meetings of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action week in, week out and hears about this and contributes to the debates, as does Deputy O'Rourke. It is something that we talk about a lot, the revolution that is coming to Ireland, if we plan things well. For me, that revolution must have a just transition attached to it and it will.

Mr. Gebruers talked about Irish coastal villages and communities and he said that some of them only make sense from the sea and there is some resonance there. I certainly have always thought that. As a young man, I rowed on the Shannon Estuary up towards King John's Castle in Limerick city and the perspective one gets from our waterways, whether from the sea or from our rivers, is quite unique. It is clear that so many of our communities only make sense from the sea. The energy revolution that we are going to have is going to make sense for these communities, right around Ireland. Towns and villages like Foynes, Kilrush, Killybegs, Ringaskiddy, Castletownbere, Rosslare, Dundalk and many others are set to benefit hugely from this energy revolution that is coming.

In talking about a revolution and a just transition, we are talking about breathing life back into these communities and turning around decades, and in some cases, more than a century of decline. Just transition is about education, reskilling and providing opportunities for young people to stay in their own communities because many of them want to. That is true of our small villages and towns as well as our cities, and that is what just transition is about. It is a term that is often misused and abused. It can be a political football, kicked from Government to Opposition and back. If we are honest about what a just transition is, we need to see it as an opportunity to open up employment and enterprise for our communities all around Ireland. Climate action requires a major change in how we live our lives and for many it will mean changes in work, education, how we get around, what we eat and how we travel. Change is always perceived to be hard and when it is not managed or planned, it can be devastating for people's livelihoods and communities. If managed well, with a just transition, it will mean better jobs, more resilient communities, a cleaner environment and a healthier ecosystem.

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