Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

58. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources when the final draft of the national mitigation plan will be published; his plans for a full and robust debate of this plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29883/17]

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

68. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the status of the national mitigation plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29840/17]

Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

69. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the timeframe for publication of the national mitigation plan; if the plan will be debated in both Houses of the Oireachtas before it is enacted in view of the fact it will be a vital document which will solidify the State's response to climate change for future generations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29770/17]

Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

77. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if the national mitigation plan on climate change has been brought to Cabinet; and when it will be brought to Dáil Éireann for debate. [29799/17]

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

When will the final draft of the national mitigation plan be published? What plans does the Minister have for a full and robust debate on this plan? I ask him to make a statement to the House.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

An tAire has two minutes.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

My Question No. 68 is similar. Is the Minister taking it with Question No. 58?

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

A number will be taken together. Questions Nos. 58, 68, 69 and 77 will be taken together.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Leas-Cheann Comhairle might indicate what time we have.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Ten minutes each.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Deputy will get two supplementary questions. I ask the Minister to repeat the numbers.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 58, 68, 69 and 77 together. Does that give me eight minutes?

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Well-----

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The objective of Ireland's first statutory national mitigation plan is to set out what Ireland is doing, and is planning to do, to further the national transition objective as set out in the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015.

The national mitigation plan has been prepared having regard to the provisions set out in the 2015 Act in close collaboration with all relevant Departments and, in particular, with the Departments of Transport, Tourism and Sport; Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government; and Agriculture, Food and the Marine. As well as being supported by a range of technical, economic and environmental inputs, the national mitigation plan has also been informed by the submissions received during a public consultation in March and April 2017.

In addition, I invited the climate change advisory council, following my publication of the draft national mitigation plan, to engage directly with me and with other relevant Ministers with a view to providing its recommendations to feed into the preparation of the final plan. All input received from the advisory council has been considered in finalising the national mitigation plan.

In accordance with the provisions of the 2015 Act, the national mitigation plan was circulated to Government in the required timeframe and I am pleased to confirm that the Government has, at its meeting today, approved the national mitigation plan for publication. I am looking forward to publishing the plan and formally laying it before both Houses of the Oireachtas very shortly.

In addition to setting out the full range of measures the Government has implemented or is considering to reduce Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions, the plan will include more than 100 individual actions to be implemented across Government to advance the national transition agenda. These actions are the individual building blocks that will enable the Government and wider society to implement deeper reductions in emissions in the years ahead. This will be an ongoing process aimed at incremental and permanent decarbonisation.

In order to debate the national mitigation plan in the Houses of the Oireachtas, the 2015 Act provides that relevant Ministers deliver an annual transition statement to each House. The first such statement was delivered last December and I intend that the 2017 statement will be delivered shortly following the presentation of budget 2018. I also intend that the annual transition statement will incorporate an annual progress report on the implementation of the national mitigation plan. In this way, each Minister with a role in the national mitigation plan will be accountable to the Oireachtas for reporting on progress within his or her respective sector.

The first national mitigation plan is a work in progress, reflecting the reality of where we are in our decarbonisation transition having regard to a number of factors, including curtailed public and private investment over the course of recent years. The first plan will not provide a complete roadmap to achieve the national transition objective to 2050, but it will begin the process of development of medium to long-term options to ensure we are well positioned to take the necessary actions in the next and following decades.

The plan will become a living document accessible on my Department's website and will be updated on an ongoing basis as analysis, dialogue and technological innovation generate further cost-effective sectoral mitigation options.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015 specified that the Government of the day must periodically publish a national mitigation plan outlining Ireland's path to a low-carbon future. It is an important piece of cross-departmental planning, something that is clearly crucial if it we are serious about making a transition to a low-carbon economy and society. The national mitigation plan was supposed to be published 18 months ago, after the passage of the legislation, which meant that the plan should have been published by June 2017. In response to a parliamentary question I tabled, the Minister said the draft mitigation plan was circulated to the Government on 10 June. That is more than two weeks ago. Is climate change such a low priority for the Minister and the Government that two weeks later he has still not managed to publish the plan?

Thus far Ireland has been struggling to meet its 2020 targets. In March 2016 the EPA published projected emissions for 2020, which indicated that Ireland's emissions at that stage could be in the range of 6% to 11% below those of 2005 when we were supposed to reach 20% reductions. That will result in significant fines for this country from the European Union.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Climate change is an issue we are taking seriously. In fact, in the first contribution of the Taoiseach, Deputy Varadkar, in the House, he made the point that we will have a full Cabinet meeting to discuss climate. It is a very serious issue and it is one we are taking seriously.

The plan was submitted to Government for approval on 9 June. My Department is a co-ordinating Department. I need to get other Ministers on board as well. It was right and proper that I would circulate the plan to them and give them an opportunity to read it, which they did. In fact, I spoke with a colleague afterwards and I probably should not say it but we had a very constructive discussion at the Cabinet today on the issue. I look forward to the further discussion and debate that will take place in the coming weeks. It was the right thing to do to give that time to colleagues to digest the information on the national mitigation plan as we had a very good discussion at the time.

We are being criticised about not doing enough about agriculture. However, it is important to acknowledge when we do things right. An article in last week's Irish Farmers Journal showed that through the beef data and genomics scheme, we have genotyped 31% of our national beef herd. Nowhere in the world has come anywhere near doing that. We are the global leaders in this area. Many of the colleagues I meet when I travel abroad also have responsibility for agriculture and they ask me about the beef data genomics scheme because it is one of the most innovative measures taken in the agriculture sector anywhere in the world. That, and the smart farming initiative operated in conjunction with the Environmental Protection Agency are two innovative measures that are driving the change forward as well.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

It appears there will be an ongoing discussion among Ministers but could the Minister give a timeframe or, if possible, a date on when the plan will be published?

It is great news to hear about the things that are going right but the Minister must focus on what is not. While I accept that the agriculture piece is going well, that was before the Minister's time in the Department and he will be measured by the decisions he needed to take and perhaps did not. He does not need me to tell him where the priority is, but it is in the transport sector and the heating sector. I welcome the fact that the Minister is bringing proposals to Government on the heating initiative. We have found a way around the issue in the agriculture sector and I am pleased that is the case but the other areas are of far greater importance so let us focus on them.

When can we see the plan? Has the Minister met resistance from his ministerial colleagues? Given that the discussion is so protracted at Cabinet level, could he identify whether there are Ministers that are somewhat hesitant about recognising their responsibilities?

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

No, there is absolutely no hesitancy at all. The mitigation plan was approved by the Cabinet today. We had a very good and constructive discussion at Cabinet today on it. Some fine-tuning of the document needs to be done and the plan will be published soon after that. Two of my colleagues came to me after the Cabinet meeting looking for copies of the plan. We will publish it as soon as it is available. The plan has gone for translation into the Irish language and I am anxious to have it published as quickly as possible, but in advance of the Cabinet meeting to discuss the issue so that my colleagues have further time to consider it.

We intend to come forward with proposals quite soon on the renewable heat incentive scheme. We will also come forward with proposals on a renewable electricity support scheme, which will make progress on the former. Significant progress continues to be made in agriculture, transport and housing and planning. They are issues with which all Ministers are engaged and that will continue to be the case.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I welcome the fact that the mitigation plan has gone to Cabinet. However, I am worried that the Minister has not given a date for its publication. This week the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill is being pushed through the Dáil and any amount of time is being given to it. We have been advised that this is the last Dáil that will have any chance to do something about climate change, such is the seriousness of the issue.

It has been repeatedly pointed out that the failure to deal with climate change will cost a lot more. Going back to 2006, the ground-breaking Stern review pointed out that it would be 20 times cheaper to deal with climate change than with its effects. I do not have the time to go through all of the reports but the Minister is aware it is much more expensive to deal with the effects of climate change than to prevent it. The draft plan I saw was described by a non-governmental organisation as defeatist and cautious. The organisation in question has been very active on the ground and I share its concerns about the lack of ambition in the plan. Could the Minister please tell me when exactly the plan will come before us? Will it be before the end of the summer break and has it adopted a more realistic approach in respect of meeting our targets?

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The plan will absolutely be before the House before the end of the summer break. I intend to have it published as quickly as possible. I cannot give a definitive date here and now but the Cabinet is meeting the week after the House rises and it is my intention to have the plan published in advance so that Ministers can have a copy of it to discuss at that full-day Cabinet meeting. I will publish the plan as soon as I can. As soon as I have the document available it will be published and laid before the Houses.

Deputy Stanley is one of the people who was here at the time but the timelines that are used in respect of the mitigation plan are unfortunate purely from a logistical point of view. That is why I want the reporting mechanism to come in after the budget. Many of the decisions we have to take must be taken in the budgetary context. We cannot take them in isolation. Many of the measures we have outlined in the mitigation plan such as the renewable heat incentive scheme and the renewable electricity support scheme will be included in the Estimates process as part of the budget and that is why it is important that in tandem with the budget taking place in October we would have the annual transition statement very soon after that.

We are establishing a national dialogue. It would be wrong to set everything in stone and then have a discussion about where we should go. Whatever comes up in the course of the dialogue also needs to be input into the plan, which is very much a living document.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

We welcome the dialogue but we are beyond that stage and we need to take action. We set up a climate advisory council, which gave very clear guidelines on the need for a stable plan and targets. All of the non-governmental organisations have highlighted those issues and we know the poorest and most vulnerable in the world who contribute very little to emissions will suffer because of our inaction.

I repeat this is the last Dáil that can take any effective action against climate change. If I had any power in this Dáil I would put this item on the agenda this week and not the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill. This cannot wait until the end of the year and it cannot wait for a budget. I appreciate what the Minister has said in respect of the budget but at some stage there must be a complete shift in thinking and a realisation that whatever about the October budget, we will end up paying a lot more. Deputy Barry has quoted Joseph Curtin of the Institute of International and European Affairs to the effect that Ireland will miss its targets by €610 million by 2020 and by up to €5.5 billion by 2030. By any stretch of the imagination we need an urgent debate in this Dáil well before October in order that we can all have an input into the targets that are set and monitoring of them.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I am quite happy to have a debate at any time. That would be helpful. I am not 100% sure about the long-term costs but Deputy Connolly is right that they are very significant and in the scale of billions of euro. I do not believe we are beyond dialogue. A fundamental weakness of environmental groups up to now is that it has been very much about top-down lecturing to people and telling them what they must do, rather than by engaging with communities on the ground. We shall come to this later in respect of another question as I do not want to get into it now. This has been the fundamental weakness up to now. People think that they can deal with this issue at a high level and not engage with people on the ground. We need to engage with people on the ground, to work with communities and to explain to them what needs to be done by every single person doing their own small, little bit. The one thing in which Ireland has been globally successful is in engaging with young people. There is nowhere in the world that has done this better than Ireland has, with its Green-Schools initiative. Yes, we have challenges but the Deputy knows the reality as well as I do. I was not inundated with people talking about climate change during the last general election. I was not inundated with people-----

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I was.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

-----and we need to change that debate. We need to change that dynamic and the only way we can do that is to engage with people and explain to them how this is impacting on their day-to-day lives. To try to do this, my focus is on the issue of air quality, which has the knock-on impact with regard to climate but also deals in the here and now for the public.