Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We are glad to be hear today to speak about the Energy Charter Treaty. The concept of close negotiations and close co-operation between different countries on the movement of energy and development of energy resources has huge merit and a place in the modern world. However, this treaty should have been called the fossil fuel energy charter treaty because it is primarily or solely about fossil fuels. That brings me to the point Deputy Bruton made that the treaty was positive in its time. I somehow wonder whether that was the case because the fossil fuel industry is a big industry. It involved big corporations making maximum profit at a time the Iron Curtain was coming down and new opportunities were opening up across eastern Europe and in Russia. Many of the big corporations saw advantages and prospects for themselves and this treaty was about guaranteeing their future. That is one of the difficulties. As we develop other industries in green energy, including wind energy, solar energy and so on, there is a lesson to be learned by us, namely, that we should ensure that they are not dominated by big corporations that will want to protect their interests as they move forward.

The work that has been done and the renegotiations that have been attempted were welcome to some extent, but it is clear that this treaty needs to be consigned to the dustbin of history. We need to do so as quickly as possible. I welcome the commitment at the end of the Minister's statement that Ireland will do that and that he has spoken to the Attorney General about it. However, it is a problem to wait for everyone in the EU to move together. We should try to move with haste on it and set the example. We do not always have to be in unison with everyone else. Sometimes we can put our best foot forward and be the leaders and, in this case, there is an opportunity to do so.

We recognise that many of the elements of the treaty were about protecting big business and corporate interests. The way in which they could sue states for the a loss of opportunity due to policy changes is one of the issues we need to be careful about as we move forward, to ensure nothing like that appears again in any future treaties being signed up to, whether they be international trade treaties or European treaties. There is a lesson to be learned in that respect.

Today in Ireland, many ordinary householders want to contribute and be part of the climate change effort and the green agenda, yet they find the support is not available for them to do that. That is one of the big issues we have to recognise. Unless ordinary citizens can feel they are being supported to do their best and to put their best foot forward, we will have a problem. It is all well and good to have supports and agreements in place internationally for big corporations, but when ordinary citizens feel left behind, we will not move forward and achieve what we set out to achieve. Ultimately, the prospect of a green transition and a just transition, moving people to alternatives, is clearly what has to happen.

Agriculture and land use is a major part of that. At a committee meeting yesterday, officials from the Department of Agriculture spoke about some of the measures they have put in place. I put it to them that large intensive farming is the part that engages least with many of the measures. I asked how that can happen and what can be done about it. They basically said it was all voluntary so it is up to farmers to undertake the measures if they wish to. I am not suggesting that a big stick needs to be taken out but the Government needs to come up with other ways of ensuring that those who farm most intensively, with the least biodiversity to their farming practices need to be brought on board and shifted into a space where there will be an opportunity for them to be part of the evolution towards a greener, more sustainable, biodiverse and rich means of agriculture and of producing food into the future. We need to do that as quickly as we can.

The issue of energy is paramount because we can all do what we can in our local areas. All citizens can do what they can but energy is big business and if big business is protected to do what it does in the way this treaty set out to protect it in the past and that is the model for the future, we will have a difficulty. We need to recognise that. I welcome the Minister's proposal to pull out of the treaty but I suggest that we do so at haste and not wait to do so in unison with the rest of the EU.

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