Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This seems to be one of those circumstances where there is general agreement throughout the House. The Minister, towards the end of his contribution, spoke about how this ECT is not fit for purpose and indicated we need to leave it. Deputy Whitmore went through the ins and outs of it being fine that we try to do our best to do it in a collective way with some of our European partners, but it looks as though many of our European partners have decided this is a bad deal. There is no point getting stuck in ISDSs with all those challenging chilling effects on any progressive legislation the Government might like to introduce, and there is also the fact the Government could be sued by major energy companies.

Some arguments have been made about the fact this was introduced in 1994, when we were dealing with changed political circumstances, given several countries had come into being after the fall of the Iron Curtain. The point was made that this was about protecting those that would make necessary investments. Nevertheless, we were talking about some of the biggest energy companies in the world, which were not without resources.

Moreover, this highlights the issues that exist with ISDS mechanisms. Many people will be aware of the case Philip Morris, the tobacco conglomerate, took against Australia, which just shows how exposed a government can be. When we are talking about energy, the main point is that the charter deals very specifically with fossil fuels. It does not make sense in any way, shape or form that we would any longer leave open the possibility we could be sued as we try to make those necessary changes, which I am sure the Minister and the Minister of State would completely support, as we try to move away from fossil fuels and make those absolutely necessary moves to decarbonisation.

I cannot see any logic as to why we would sign up for CETA and an investor court system that will leave us open to similar issues. As we all know, there has been much consideration in the public domain, and probably even a bit in the Minister's own party, in regard to this. Even what has been said is enough of a damning indictment of ISDSs. States should not leave themselves open to being sued by big corporations on the basis of trying to do the right thing legislatively. That is just not good enough. Even if there is some element whereby it slows us down, it is just not good enough. We are all aware of the disaster of the sunset clause, which the Minister mentioned. Italy, which has left, still has to deal with the ramifications of what it had signed up to. None of this is good enough.

In fairness to my party colleagues sitting next to me, I do not know how many times we have been in the Chamber talking about the possibilities of Ireland being a wind superpower while, at the same time, auctions are not going to plan. A huge number of companies that have previously considered investing in offshore and onshore wind are just not sure at this point. We need to make those necessary moves to being a planning-led system away from being a developer-led system, but we need to make sure it will be done as seamlessly as possible, with any anomalies or difficulties that exist in regard to the planning process dealt with. Obviously, people have a right to make observations and we need a system that will allow for accountability, but it needs to be seamless in respect of how it operates and it has to be timely, something we have not been able to deliver for those who have looked at making necessary investments.

The Minister will not be shocked that, when we are talking about new forms of energy, renewables and so on, I am going to raise the feasibility study for shallow geothermal solutions. I had thought it was to be published at the end of last month but I have not seen sight nor light of it in the context of a solution for Carlin Hall. District heating systems are one of the means of delivering some of the solutions we need but there is a problem with gas-fed communal systems. Can the Minister chase up and find out what the information is to ensure we can get it out to all the residents and stakeholders necessary to deliver on it, with grant schemes that can also deliver a solution?

See this speech in context