Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1 to amendment No. 1:

A.

To insert the following after "reflect changing circumstances following the Russian invasion of Ukraine;": "— the cheapest barrel of oil is the one not burned and calls on the Government to reduce fossil fuel consumption by:

— immediately approving applications received under the National Retrofitting Scheme, which are presently delayed by up to six months, if the homeowner has been fortunate enough to secure an assessment;

— expediting the rollout of the National Broadband Plan, thus reducing the need to travel to work;

— increasing renewable energy under the Biofuels Obligation Scheme to 10 per cent in petrol and 12 per cent in diesel, effectively doubling the usage of biofuels in Irish transport as committed to in the Climate Action Plan;

— establishing without delay a renewable heat obligation scheme similar to the Biofuels Obligation Scheme;

— supporting the development of an indigenous biomethane production for use in heating and transport;

— encouraging the use of Hydrotreated Vegetable Oils in the transport sector following the model as outlined in the Swedish Renewable Transport Policy;

— directing Gas Networks Ireland to design and construct district heating systems in suitable towns and urban districts;

— implementing as a matter of urgency through Bord na Móna, a bioenergy strategy including the use of fixed price contracts, to increase the supply of biomass for energy from our agriculture and forest sector;

— enacting the Wind Energy Development Guidelines signed off by the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government and the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment in June 2017 to replace the outdated 2006 guidelines; and

— delivering its long-promised policy statement on geothermal energy and the required supporting legislation;"

B.

To insert the following after "does not publish information on individual applications whilst they are under consideration": "and further calls on the Government to take decisive steps to reduce our medium-term dependence on fossil fuels by implementing in full the Offshore Renewable Energy motion unanimously approved by Dáil Éireann on 8th December, 2021, and to set out a clear policy strategy for the domestic production and consumption of green hydrogen."

Mattie's proposals and Eamon's proposals are just Tweedledee and Tweedledum. They are never-never land plans. Actions are being announced and all the decisions are ones I took as Minister. For example, it will have taken five years from the Cabinet decision to stop purchasing fossil fuel buses until the first electric double decker bus goes into operation next January. The reality is decisions take far too long to implement. People are hurting due to the cost of fuel and inflation today and our climate is fast reaching the point of no return. While we are big on glossy plans and targets, we are weak on practical implementation. By 2022, Ireland had committed to funding a programme that would see 45,000 homes retrofitted this year and each year in future, but this green Government has reduced that target to just 22,000 homes. We will be lucky if we see the first of the new retrofitting grants actually paid out by the time the winter fuel allowance is paid this September. Those with rooftop renewable energy generation were legally supposed to receive microgeneration payments this time last year. That was only because I signed up to an EU law forcing this to happen, against advice to the contrary. These families will be lucky if they get the first payment this month.

The focus of Minister after Minister and the battle cry of environmentalists has always been to have more ambition, but no one has taken action to achieve our existing ambition, never mind the new targets for which we have no roadmap. No one is prepared to answer how we will get there. There are no answers, which I fear will ultimately leave agriculture having to carry its own emission costs as well as the other, non-performing sectors, by 2030. The Government is giving away our offshore renewable rights, as it has in the past with oil and gas, just to achieve our renewable energy targets. This is all at a time when some of the so-called environmentalists are literally rubbing their hands with glee at the price of petrol and diesel, quietly hoping it will rise by at least another 50 cent per litre. They fail to realise that with no alternatives, all we are doing is hurting families while we continue to fail our environment.

The €500 million Government climate action fund that was designed to provide innovation needed to provide fossil fuel alternatives in an Irish context is instead being raided to replace the funding that should be coming from other Departments. What we have in front of us is a fairy tale set of proposals from both Government and Opposition, with very little practical action that would make a real difference to families who are hurting. I have set out ten practical measures in our amendment that will wean us off oil and ensure we have a greener society with practical, implementable steps that can make a real difference to families. If we had implemented those, it would not have left the Minister for Transport in the situation he was in earlier this week, where the only practical solution he had for those families who are struggling to pay the cost of petrol to get to work is to contact the local community welfare officer or, to put it more bluntly, "Sod off and contact St. Vincent de Paul". Can we use "sod" any more, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle?

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