Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Question No. 34 is in the name of Deputy Connolly. A privilege has been given to Deputy Pringle to take it.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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34. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the mechanisms in place for inter departmental cooperation to achieve the implementation of the national mitigation plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13941/17]

Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein)
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41. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the status of Ireland's national mitigation plan as part of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015 and his views on whether it will be sufficient for Ireland to meet its renewable energy and emissions targets. [13888/17]

Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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This question relates to the implementation of the national mitigation plan, which is subject to public consultation at the moment. This plan crosses a number of different Departments and requires action across Government. How will this interaction take place to fulfill the requirements of this mitigation plan?

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 34  and 41  together.

In line with the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015, I am required to prepare and submit a national mitigation plan to Government for approval no later than 10 June 207. An important milestone in this work, and one required under the legislation, was reached last week when I published a draft of the national mitigation plan for public consultation. This consultation will help inform further work in my own Department and across Government to finalise the plan later this year. The consultation is an essential part of the process of public and stakeholder engagement on the challenges we face to meet our existing commitments and to begin the longer term process of transitioning Ireland to a low-carbon, climate resilient and environmentally sustainable economy by 2050.  

The draft plan has been prepared through close collaboration across all relevant Government Departments and, in particular, by the key Ministers responsible to the four sectors covered by the plan, including electricity generation, the built environment, transport and agriculture, forestry and land use.

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This has been overseen by an interdepartmental national mitigation plan steering group as well as by both the senior officials group and the Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure, Environment and Climate Action. Technical support has been provided to all the sectors by the technical research and modelling group which operates under my Department. In addition, the Climate Change Advisory Council was established as an independent statutory body under the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015. Its role is to assess and advise Government on policy related to climate change.

As well as mechanisms to ensure interdepartmental co-operation, we also need to engage wider society with the challenge of climate change, motivate changes in behaviour and create structures at local, regional and national levels to support the generation of ideas and their transition into appropriate cost-effective actions.  To this end, I announced recently details of a national dialogue on climate action.

It is important to note that the first national mitigation plan represents an initial step to set us on the pathway to achieve the level of decarbonisation required by 2050. It does not provide a complete roadmap to achieve the 2050 objective but rather is a work in progress reflecting the reality of where we are in our decarbonisation transition. When finalised, the plan will become a living document that will be accessible on my Department's website and which will be continually updated as ongoing analysis, dialogue and technological innovation generate more and more cost-effective sectoral mitigation options. In addition, there will be a formal preparation of successive national mitigation plans at least once every five years as provided for in the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015.

I intend that these arrangements will continue to provide a clear Government focus to drive the ongoing development and implementation of the mitigation plan.

In terms of our 2020 emissions reduction targets under the EU’s effort sharing decision, it is expected, on the basis of the latest projections prepared by the Environmental Protection Agency, that we will fall short of meeting this target. The first national mitigation plan will provide the framework for continued work towards meeting our 2020 targets. Equally important, it will also begin the development of medium-term to long-term options to ensure that we are well positioned to take the necessary actions in the next and future decades.

On renewable energy targets, Ireland is committed to achieving this target through meeting 40% of electricity demand, 12% of heat and 10% of transport from renewable sources of energy, with the latter target also being legally binding. The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland has estimated that 25.3% of electricity, 6.5% of heat and 5.7% of transport energy requirements were met from renewable sources at end 2015.

The Government has a range of policy measures and schemes to incentivise the use of renewable energy and although good progress towards the target has been made to date meeting the 16% target remains challenging. My Department is currently developing a proposed new renewable electricity support scheme and a new renewable heat incentive scheme, designed to assist in meeting our renewable energy supply - electricity, RES-E, and renewable energy supply - heat, RES-H, targets. The introduction of any new scheme, including the overall costs and technologies to be supported, will be subject to Government approval and state aid clearance from the European Commission.

Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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We are one of only two countries in the EU that will miss its 2020 targets. It is widely accepted, although perhaps not fully by Government at the moment, that we will miss those targets. The mitigation plan has been criticised because it fails to acknowledge the economic, human and environmental costs of not taking action and does not have a sense of urgency. It is widely accepted that addressing climate change is urgent. As the Minister outlined, the plan focuses mainly on cost-effectiveness but it also emphasises the financial costs and budgetary implications associated with implementing the climate actions. The key question is how the plan will be implemented across Departments. From experience I know that getting stuff done in one Department is hard enough. If we have to get two Departments to work together, we may as well forget about it. To get three to work together is impossible. This plan must focus on an across-Government approach. How is it envisaged that will happen?

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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Deputy Pringle stated that the plan does not take into account the human aspect and cost. One of the big problems is that we have not had an across-the-board economic analysis of the impact of climate change and its cost to the environment and society. The really frustrating aspect is that I, as Minister, was starting with a blank sheet. When the 20% targets were agreed, the then Ministers, John Gormley and Deputy Eamon Ryan, were pushing for a 30% target without having done an economic analysis of how we would achieve the 20% target and we now see the consequences. Now we are getting a 30% target based on cost-effectiveness. The Commission is taking that into account and acknowledging that cost-effectiveness must be part of it. The overall threshold across the EU is the same. The target is 40%. However, there must be an acknowledgement that the flexibility and the ability to do that varies across member states. There is far more flexibility in the emissions trading system where it is more cost-effective to make the changes, but sadly the bulk of our emissions are outside the emissions trading system.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I call Deputy Brian Stanley.

Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein)
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My question for the Minister is on the status of the draft national mitigation plan, which the Minister has outlined, as part of the Climate Action and Low-Carbon Development Act and his views on whether it will be sufficient to meet renewable energy and emissions targets.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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Will the mitigation plan be sufficient to meet our 2030 targets? No, not as it stands at present. First, this is a draft document and we are looking for feedback and submissions from the public on it. Second, this is a living, breathing document that will alter with the forthcoming budget and the review of the capital plan. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform has directed that the issues and challenges that we face between now and 2030 are to be incorporated by Ministers in terms of their proposals for the capital plan. There will be a whole-of-Government approach. As Deputy Pringle noted, it is challenging. The heavy lifting has to be done by four Departments but there is a responsibility across Government to make the changes that are needed. For instance, the Department of Education and Skills has a role in terms of school building standards. Many other Departments also have a role to play. As the facilitating Department, we are actively trying to drive the type of change that is required and to engage directly with communities. This is why dialogue is so important. Up to now, we had the environmental lobby lecturing people and telling them how it was going to happen rather than engaging and working with them and assisting them with the active transition to a low-carbon society.

Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein)
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I have an initial response.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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For continuity purposes, I will call Deputy Stanley first and then Deputy Pringle.

Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein)
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Will I get to come back in?

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Yes.

Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein)
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It was outlined by the Minister that we are going to miss our targets. The approach is lack lustre and the concern is that there is not just the question of environmental damage but also the potential of financial penalties. These must be avoided at all costs. We cannot allow ourselves to be the bad guys of Europe. We have an opportunity. We present a green image but, my God, we are not living up to it. We present this image of having safe food, and rightly so. We support that fully. However, we need to match our words and advertisements with action. We need a clear roadmap. There is a concern that goes across sectors, including the power and energy sector and the construction sector, especially the retrofit sector. We recognise that the agrisector is a difficult one in this regard but better farming practices can deal with it.

While I recognise the Minister is new to this game, having been appointed only recently, he must act on this issue because we do not have time on our side. From July onwards, urgent action must be taken on transport. This will require increased investment in public transport, increasing the number of power points and having more light vehicles driven by renewable energy sources.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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Sometimes we are much too hard on ourselves. Ireland is leading the way in some areas. The beef data and genomics scheme is probably the most innovative step taken in agriculture anywhere in the world. I have been surprised by the number of ministers from abroad who have asked me about this scheme. The initiative taken by the Environmental Protection Agency on smart farming is putting cash in farmers' hands. On average, farmers in the scheme are saving €5,000 per annum, which is having a direct impact on the environment. On the basis of the work done by successive Governments in the area of energy efficiency, the International Energy Agency has asked me, on behalf of Ireland, to be the keynote speaker in June. In addition, the United States and many other countries are examining how our electricity grid operates. We should not always take a negative view because we are setting the agenda in some areas. I acknowledge, however, that we have a great deal of work to do, including on transport.

Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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The Minister emphasised several times that this is a draft plan and consultations are ongoing. The key question is by how much the plan will change by June as a result of engagement with members of the public, non-governmental organisations and others who are seeking to frame a plan that sets out targets that must be met. How open is the Minister to having a plan that reflects ambitious goals, moves away from the issue of financial costs and budgetary processes and recognises the urgent need to take concrete action?

Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein)
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While I acknowledge that some positive things are taking place, by the Minister's own admission both privately and publicly, Ireland has fallen behind and must catch up. We are approaching the edge of a carbon cliff, as I forecast several years ago. We must develop other sources of renewable energy, including grasping the nettle on solar power. There is opposition to everything. We must, therefore, present communities with a range of options because most sensible people would then accept that the Government and House are doing their best.

Notwithstanding the role of Departments in this area, local government is the missing piece. To use a catchphrase, we must think globally and act locally. Local authorities have shown the way in the renovation and retrofitting of houses where they are doing significant work. I ask the Minister to discuss this issue with the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, Deputy Simon Coveney, with a view to developing local government involvement in waste, local transport and public buildings. Local authorities can do much more. The power to devolve many more responsibilities to them is provided for in the Local Government Act. I ask the Minister to devolve powers to take specific measures to local councils, communities and people in order that we can get on top of the issue of climate change.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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To respond to Deputy Pringle's question, while I am very open to constructive suggestions, I am not open to the suggestion that we close down the three peat fired power stations tomorrow and have all the seasonal workers who are driving tractors become electricians and retrofit houses in Dublin. This is the type of solution that is being put forward. What we need are practical solutions and I am very open to any practical, logical solution regardless of who proposes it.

I will address the issue of solar power in a couple of minutes. Deputy Stanley is correct on the role of local government. My Department works very closely with local authorities on waste initiatives, including reducing food waste, which has a direct impact on the environment. My local authority, Roscommon County Council, is involved in converting its vehicle fleet to a low emission fleet. The Department, through the ESB, is engaging with local authorities on the issue of public lighting with a view to reducing overall electricity demand. This will have a direct impact on the environment and generate additional funds for local authorities to be invested in other energy solutions and community projects.