Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Members for their discussion of and support for this Private Members' motion. I also thank those who do not support it because it is vital that we have informed debate in the House that leads to having better policy in the long run. It is important as well that debate should be conducted in a way that reflects what is actually in the proposal under discussion. What this motion talks about is fossil fuel undertakings in the agricultural industry, which are basically the manufacturers of products used by farmers that could be replaced very easily within the industry to make it more sustainable into the future.

The response by the Minister of State, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, to the motion was powerful and very positive. I welcome that the Government is supporting it and I hope it is the intention to work to implement it. When we look at the detail of the Minister of State's contribution to the debate, however, we see it is disingenuous because a lot of it is the direct opposite to the motion itself. It makes you wonder whether the Government is actually supporting the motion or whether, as Deputy Connolly said, it just does not want to have it on the record that it opposed it. The Minister of State said in her contribution: "If the Act was amended as proposed in the motion, to avoid being in breach of the relevant statutory provisions, ISIF would have to divest from and may be prevented from investing in substantial investments that may have minimal or no exposure to fossil fuel undertakings..." The reality is that such investments do have exposure to fossil fuel undertakings and, therefore, there is indirect promotion of the use of fossil fuels right across the world. The Minister of State went on to say the change would "limit ISIF's investment universe and its ability to deliver on its commercial mandate". Of course it will. She went on to say: "[I]t would have the potential to reduce the investment horizon for the proposed future Ireland fund and the infrastructure, climate and nature fund." That is what we hope it will do. It is very worrying that the Government is looking at things in this way. It seems it is okay to invest in fossil fuels if it is being done by way of the proposed future Ireland fund or the infrastructure, climate and nature fund. That is the reality of the what the Minister of State is saying and it is very wrong. She went on to underline that point when she said that removing such bonds from Ireland does not mean they will not exist elsewhere. That is the reality of the Government's attitude, which is that we better get these investments because, if we do not, someone else will and we cannot have that. It is pretty sad.

On fossil fuel investments, the NTMA is prohibited from holding an outright investment in a particular fossil fuel undertaking, company X, but permitted to have an indirect holding in company X through a hedge fund. The Government will need to be clear and accountable that such investments are not occurring and that, if they are, it would go some way to undermining the overall intention behind the 2018 Act, which is to divest ISIF assets from such companies.

It is clear that the 2018 Act as it exists requires amending. We have seen that money is still flowing from Ireland into fossil fuels and agribusiness. Research shows us that the best way to offset any devaluation is to move quickly. As well as being detrimental to our environment, fossil fuels are also detrimental to the market and there is a clear trend of investing in the renewable economy.

The science clearly shows that the window of opportunity for tackling the issue of global warming is narrowing almost exponentially. Keeping global warming under the threshold of 1.5°C is a target that is simply further away from us. A terrifying statistic is that to have a 50% chance of getting under 1.5°C we must reduce global emissions to zero by 2050. We need to pause for a moment to think about that. That is the reality of the situation we face. Less than 30 years from now, we have to be carbon neutral if we are to have even half a chance of success. The time for meaningful action was 30 years ago. Unfortunately, those who came before us did not see or feel the urgency and already we are paying the price. That is the reality.

I want to thank my staff for their assistance in putting this motion together. I particularly thank Jessica Bray and Emer Taylor for the work they did. I would also like to thank Selina Donnelly of Trócaire and Karol Balfe of ActionAid Ireland for the work they have done in this regard as well.

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