Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate. Although the annual transition statements framework was abolished and replaced with a new process under the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021, this gives us a good opportunity to reflect on the Government’s progress to date on reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and take on board suggestions from the Opposition on actions that need to be taken. I will pick up on one of the Minister of State's final comments that "we must consider how to accelerate the delivery of measures and actions". We are really in a space in which we need implementation. It is the number one word we heard from the EPA. Let us get on with the considering but, more importantly, let us get on with the action. There are many frameworks, plans and reports but there is an acute shortage of action.

The Government committed in the programme for Government to cut emissions by an average of 7% per annum over its lifetime. Unfortunately, what is coming to pass is very different. I know the figure of 7% is contested but it is certainly the figure in the programme for Government, if not in the carbon budgets. After a fall in emissions in 2020, due significantly to the shuttering of the economy and people being confined to their homes, we are back to business as usual with our national emissions increasing last year and almost certainly this year too.

Total greenhouse gas emissions are estimated to have increased by 6% in 2021, as the Minister of State has indicated, rather than decreased by the required 4.8% as per the Climate Change Advisory Council’s carbon budgets. In addition, earlier this year, the head of the EPA said emissions are again unlikely to fall in 2022. Either way, it is a long way off where we need to be. I am not highlighting these failures to try to score political points. We are serious about these matters. We want to meet our targets because it is beyond party politics. This is very important but, of course, there are huge wheels to turn and many component parts in making policy work and delivering on those objectives. That is where the differences arise between my party and the Government.

Missed climate targets are a loss for everyone, not least the climate, and make the 2030 target, for whoever is in government, even harder to reach. The incoherent Government policy that is contributing to these missed emission targets needs to be called out. Yesterday, it was announced that the State is set to spend €350 million on new gas-powered generators, due entirely to the failure of this Government and previous Governments to appropriately balance our electricity demand and supply. This means much-needed investment is being redirected from renewables and into fossil fuel infrastructure. There is an opportunity cost with every ounce of energy and euro that we put into this infrastructure.

Data centres drive the instability in our electricity system and place a massive burden on it. The previous Fine Gael Government rolled out the red carpet for data centres and sought to make Ireland, especially Dublin, the data centre capital of the world, or certainly of Europe, with no thought given to the impact this would have on our electricity supply or carbon emissions. There was certainly no tangible indication that any thought was given to it. The current Government has not changed approach sufficiently, despite our more ambitious climate targets and the increased threat of electricity blackouts. People are familiar with the term "amber alert" now in a way they never were before. Data centres now use as much electricity as all the homes in rural Ireland combined. Their consumption is set to at least double by 2030. This is already putting severe pressure on our energy system and cannot be consistent with our emission reduction targets. It is a policy choice that this Government made over our climate targets.

The recent reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change further reinforce the need for urgent action to mitigate climate change. Our energy sector has huge potential to deliver significant carbon savings. Sinn Féin has called for an acceleration in the delivery of renewables, particularly offshore wind and green hydrogen. The length of time it takes to deliver offshore wind, from concept to generation, is far too long. We need to speed up this process. We are happy to work with the Government to provide clear proposals in that regard and support constructive measures from the Government. The Government can do this by fully resourcing the agencies involved, such as An Bord Pleanála, EirGrid and the Commission for Regulation of Utilities. I have repeatedly raised this with the Minister.

Our island has significant potential relating to green hydrogen, but we still have no national plan in this area. The price of renewables in the latest RESS auction is far too high. Sinn Féin has called for the establishment of a cross-government high-level task force to bring forward recommendations on how to lower the price of renewable energy here. Policy options can be implemented to reduce the cost of renewables. EirGrid says the auction itself will do it, but it is not doing so. That is another immediate move the Minister can make, but we see no action in this area. The Government and the Minister, Deputy Ryan, are holding firm in their position. Simple measures like removing the planning barriers for schools to install solar photovoltaics took two full years for this Government to begin to address. We have now entered a public consultation phase on it. This is the lowest of the low-hanging fruit. I do not know of anybody who opposes this measure. I know Departments and institutions have their way of working, but given the state of the crisis, it looks like a government-as-usual approach. The Government needs to focus on unravelling those knots and getting through those processes immediately. As another example, five years since Sinn Féin introduced a Bill on microgeneration in the Dáil, people are still not getting paid for the clean energy they are exporting to the grid.

There are many opportunities relating to transport. I welcome the progress that has been made on fares. Much more can be done by expanding Connecting Ireland. Its funding needs to be increased. There is significant opportunity for progress, but every time the Government designs schemes, they fail the equity test and the just transition test. That acts as a barrier to progressive climate action.

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