Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

That point I am making to Deputy O'Gorman is this. I understand the rapporteur positions on European parliamentary committees are divided up, if not quite by a d'Hondt system by a system reflecting the various strengths of parties in the Parliament. Fine Gael only has one MEP, I think, on the environment committee. It is Seán Kelly, who is a substitute member. I also understand there was a procedural vote on the issue, rather than a substantive vote.

With the greatest of respect for committee rapporteurs, we need a sense of perspective. This person will not be the decision-maker and will not be setting the targets. Those are matters for the democratically elected members of the European Parliament. If the Deputy is being fair to my party's record in the European Parliament, as previous Green Party MEP Ciarán Cuffe was, he will acknowledge the Fine Gael Party has worked very constructively on climate issues. All Fine Gael MEPs voted for the climate restoration law, for example, which was remarked upon positively by Ciarán Cuffe. He singled out Seán Kelly for praise. Only two Irish MEPs did not vote for that: a Sinn Féin MEP and an independent MEP. I am proud of my party's record on climate and of the work the Government and Ireland is doing on climate. We certainly have a lot more work to do in relation to this.

I outlined in the House last week some areas where we need a serious acceleration and I stated the national development plan would be an opportunity to endeavour to accelerate that work. I am happy to look into further detail of the procedural matter but Fine Gael is proudly a party that believes in the need for urgent climate action. I believe anything to do with the rapporteur of the committee was a procedural matter based on the relative strength of parties and groupings in the Parliament.

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