Peter Cleere (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

11. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on climate action, environment and energy will next meet. [46874/25]

Malcolm Byrne (Wicklow-Wexford, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

12. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on climate action, environment and energy will next meet. [46518/25]

Naoise Ó Cearúil (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

13. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on climate action, environment and energy will next meet. [46855/25]

Tony McCormack (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

14. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on climate action, environment and energy will next meet. [46860/25]

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

15. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on climate action, environment and energy will next meet. [49936/25]

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
Link to this: Individually | In context

16. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on climate action, environment and energy will next meet. [49986/25]

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

17. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on climate action, environment and energy will next meet. [50084/25]

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

18. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on climate action, environment and energy will next meet. [50087/25]

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

19. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on climate action, environment and energy will next meet. [50150/25]

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
Link to this: Individually | In context

20. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on climate action, environment and energy will next meet. [50159/25]

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I propose to take Questions Nos. 11 to 20, inclusive, together.

Ireland has accepted challenging emissions reduction targets at EU and national levels. Our programme for Government has reaffirmed the Government's determination that Ireland will play its full part in tackling what is a global issue.

We are seeing encouraging signs. Ireland's emissions have been falling for the last three years, and we now have lower overall emissions than at any point in the last 35 years, despite our population growing by 50% over that period.

Change is under way across our economy and society to realign ourselves to a low-carbon future. Reducing emissions is now at the heart of all our policies and sectors. We are seeing real progress in the areas of energy, transport, and agriculture; however, EPA projections make clear one thing: we must move faster and do more if we are to meet our targets for emissions reduction.

The Cabinet committee on climate action, environment and energy oversees implementation of programme for Government commitments on the environment, climate action, energy and emergency planning. It considers the wide range of issues that require action in Ireland's transition to a low-carbon, climate resilient and sustainable future: a future in which we take full advantage of the renewable energy potential that we possess, while ensuring that energy policies contribute to energy security, affordability and competitiveness.

The Cabinet committee also oversees implementation of the climate action plan. The committee meets quarterly. The last meeting took place on 7 July. The next meeting will be scheduled in due course.

Peter Cleere (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

We all know there is a huge amount of work to be done on flood protection and flood mitigation. I acknowledge the €1.3 billion that has been set aside under the flood risk investment programme. Flooding in Ireland can have a significant impact on homes, businesses, people and communities. While I accept the problem of flooding cannot be eliminated, it can be managed or mitigated to reduce its likelihood, severity or impact. Flood relief schemes are complex projects. They require detailed engineering analysis and public engagement to make sure schemes will work and have the support of the whole community. Six such schemes have been approved in County Kilkenny – in Graiguenamanagh, Ballyhale, Freshford, Inistioge, Piltown and Thomastown. They are all at various stages. Could the Taoiseach give assurances to me and the people of Kilkenny today that these approved projects will be completed and fully funded?

Malcolm Byrne (Wicklow-Wexford, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I am glad to see the Government has agreed to progress with the private wires Bill and the development of a private wires policy. It is critical to addressing the energy deficit we face that we move as soon as possible. It is also important that we ensure we have the necessary digital infrastructure to support the digital economy, and that includes data centres. I am sure the Taoiseach would agree with me that data centres, as a critical part of the economy, would benefit from the private wires Bill, in particular if they partner with renewable energy sources in order to be able to power them but also to engage in district heating systems such as the one we see in Tallaght. Could the Taoiseach indicate a timeframe for when we will be moving forward with the private wires legislation and when we may see companies being able to avail of it? In that context, would he envisage nuclear energy forming part of the solution?

Naoise Ó Cearúil (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

In 2004 the Taoiseach introduced the smoking ban, which has saved thousands of lives. This week the EPA reported that approximately 1,700 premature deaths occur in Ireland every year due to poor air quality. A lot of this is due to the continuous burning of solid fossil fuels and traffic emissions. Will the Cabinet committee on climate action, environment and energy consider this report and look at actions to try to resolve it?

Tony McCormack (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The SEAI better energy warmer homes scheme is crucial for tackling climate change and energy poverty but in Offaly and across the country families are waiting up to two years for works to be completed - 12 months for a BER assessment, 14 months for a survey and further delays for retrofitting. Could the Taoiseach outline what steps are being taken, be it increasing the number of assessors and surveyors, streamlining the process or boosting delivery capacity to shorten waiting times so households can benefit much sooner from warmer, more energy efficient homes?

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

There is a major issue with the retrofitting schemes that are in place. On the one hand, as the Climate Change Advisory Council states, the funding supports for heat pumps are not sufficient and this lock many people out of access to a heat pump. On the other hand, a heat pump is not a practical or feasible solution for many homes, in particular one-off rural homes. Very many people are locked out of access to a heat pump, but also locked out of low-emission and zero-emission alternatives, whatever they might be. The vast majority still have fossil fuels. There is potential for a significant improvement on what families are currently using, be it dirty solid fuels or kerosine. Will the Taoiseach consider reviewing the schemes to ensure that people can make progress?

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The European Environment Agency's recent report is nothing short of damning. It sets out the reality for biodiversity and finds that Ireland's natural environment is in very poor condition. Some 85% of protected habitats and almost one third of protected species have an unfavourable status. It is clear that excessive car dependency, unsustainable food production and emissions that are simply not reducing at a fast enough rate are doing untold damage to biodiversity. We are seeing an outrageous situation in Dublin Bay with sewage being pumped into our waters. Swim bans are the norm on far too many beaches and there are fish kills on lakes and rivers with alarming regularity. We need urgent systemic action in this budget.

We need to ensure the budget will take climate seriously. Will the Taoiseach take the urgent action in this budget, which is so obviously needed, to invest in the protection of biodiversity and to reverse some of the decisions made? We are very concerned that the ban on imported fracked gas has been overturned and that it looks as if his Government is opening the door to more fossil fuel infrastructure.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I welcome to the Gallery the relatives of the participants in the Global Sumud Flotilla.

The EU confirmed this week that nature in this country is in a very poor state and that economic growth has been achieved at the expense of the environment. Even in that context, the Blackwater fish kill stands out as an unprecedented ecocide - over 46,000 dead fish floating to the surface, bringing home the mass extinction event happening silently every day due to intensive, industrialised agriculture. It is incredible that none of our State agencies apparently can find the culprit. These are the agencies that are supposed to protect our environment. No wonder locals, anglers and environmentalists are convinced there must be a cover-up. It is scandalous that the investigations have discovered several other criminal polluters that we would never have known about without this event. What is the Taoiseach going to do about this? Will he properly resource protection and enforcement? Will he ensure that repeat offenders, like North Cork Creameries, which has had 122 non-compliance issues and is still non-compliant, are prosecuted and have their licences revoked? Will he stop defending the nitrates derogation and accept it is contributing to the devastation of our rivers?

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Deputy Cleere was the first into the fray, regarding flood schemes in Kilkenny. He gave a very articulate presentation of the challenges and complexities of flood schemes. They take a lot of time and consultation. Given the frequency and ferocity of storms today, we need to move faster with some of these schemes, because the devastation of a flood on a household or on a town, or on shops and businesses, is huge and shocking for people. The national development plan, NDP, has allocated substantial money and capital. We want to get all of those schemes approved. I do not have clear details as to where each scheme is right now. I have no doubt Deputy Cleere does, as he is a local TD for the area. He has listed six schemes. I will work with him to ensure those schemes are approved, fully funded and delivered. A lot will depend on the progress in terms of the execution of the issues.

Deputy Malcolm Byrne raised the issue of a private wires Bill. I think it is good legislation and I welcome the fact the Government has accepted a memorandum outlining the legislation and proposals and that we have agreed it, in that respect. We have challenges in terms of data centres, as Deputy Byrne knows. He has been specialising in AI for quite some time. AI will mean a much greater need for energy. It will be energy intensive. Data centres are going to be important in that regard. Offshore wind energy is critical for this. That is why I have convened a clearing house, involving industry and the Government, to deal with macro issues around delivering offshore wind generation as quickly as we possibly can to enable us to be adopters of AI and to maximise the potential of AI into the future. It will also allow us to deal with future industry needs in terms of major, larger sites the IDA will be acquiring to provide for industry well into the future. We have been working with the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, the Department of enterprise and others on that specific issue. I will come back to Deputy Byrne on the timeline for the legislation. My understanding is that it should not take that long.

On nuclear, we may very well import nuclear through various connectors. We are putting a lot of funding into wind energy, offshore wind in particular, and some onshore wind and some solar. It is interesting. There are people who have come to me in the House saying they are against solar energy, wind energy and fossil fuels. I do not know where we are going to get our energy if we do not have a combination of all three in the short term. We will need a combination of all three. From a State perspective, nuclear would entail a lot of capital investment. We are putting a lot of capital investment into the wind energy side. A lot of it will be private sector developed, but we have to do the ports and a lot of other stuff with that.

Deputy Naoise Ó Cearúil asked a question around premature deaths. The last Government did enact comprehensive legislation in respect of towns, and to make fully nationwide the ban on solid fuels. A lot of it was coming in from the North, actually, and it was leading to a deterioration in health quality. It was way back in the early 1990s that Mary Harney, the then Minister of State, brought in a ban in cities. People may not remember, but at 5 o'clock on a winter evening in Dublin you could hardly walk through Dublin because of the smog. You were breathing in awful stuff, and it was a radical move that improved health quality in cities. The issue will be enforcement. Local authorities and others need to do more on enforcement regarding air quality in towns across the country. Up to a couple of years ago, Enniscorthy had poor quality air on a par with some towns in India, because of the penetration of imported smoky coal getting in under the radar, not being properly monitored and a lack of enforcement. That is critical for health. Deaths, lung injury and COPD can be avoided if we just do the sensible thing.

Deputy Tony McCormack asked about the delays in delivering the SEAI, Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, grants and the better energy warmer homes scheme. I take his point. The Minister is reviewing these schemes to see if he can get simpler grant schemes in place and maybe fast-track some of this. We will work on that. I appreciate the point Deputy McCormack has raised.

Deputy O'Rourke raised retrofitting heat pumps and an insufficiency of money. Again, huge money has gone into this in the last five years compared with what went on for the previous 20 years. There are limits to what the State can do with public expenditure, to remind the House of that every now and again. I am sure the Deputy reads the comments from the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, and the Central Bank. They are suggesting - even a Deputy from the Labour Party has been very conscious about this - that we are spending far too much money on all of these schemes. We do need to be fiscally sustainable. That said, these are important schemes because they save energy in the future and save on household bills for people.

Deputy Bacik raised the issue of the natural environment. In the last five years, we have doubled the budget of the National Parks and Wildlife Service. I involved myself five years ago and met the NPWS. A board was created within the Department. It is an agency within the State. It has had lots of successes. For example, there has been good progress with the corncrake and the white-tailed eagle. We have created new national parks in the last number of years in the north east, and acquired the Conor Pass and marshes around Clonakilty. A lot of good progress has been made. We are dealing with the previous 20-odd years of progress and so on. The Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund needs to allocate money specifically for nature restoration and, in my view, for the acquisition of more land for rewilding and for national parks. We will continue on that track. Obviously, I am concerned about the report, and we need to respond to it.

Deputy Murphy raised the issue of the fish kill in the Blackwater, which is absolutely shocking but the EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, has not come up with a culprit for this. It is wrong to just throw up the charge of a cover-up. I do not think that is fair. I do not think it is fair on the EPA because I do not believe the EPA would cover it up. Equally, however, if the EPA cannot pinpoint the exact source of this pollution, it needs to be honest about that too. There is no point in getting ahead. Deputy Murphy would be the first person, in other walks of life, attacking the Garda or the justice system for getting ahead without any evidence. We have to have an evidence-based approach to this. North Cork Creameries has been involved in other compliance issues but not this one. There has been no tracing of it to this fish kill. It employs a lot of people and has been a very successful industry at other levels in that area, which is an area that has not been blessed with multinationals or with other industry. We have to balance the perspective. There is no evidence this fish kill was caused by the agriculture sector either, in terms of farming or anything like that, which the Deputy might have been suggesting, or maybe he had other targets in that regard.

That said, it is not satisfactory that we do not know how such a large fish kill happened. That is a worry. Is our scientific capacity up to speed? This is a major kill and will have major repercussions for biodiversity along the Blackwater and that area in its entirety.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The next group of questions is Nos. 21 to 32 but we only have five minutes left for this item of business. Therefore, with the agreement of the House, I will move to the next piece of business, which is the motion. Is that agreed? Agreed.

That concludes questions.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
Link to this: Individually | In context

It is agreed, but it is not satisfactory that we only ever get through two groups of questions. We are even losing five minutes today. We used to get six Question Time sessions per week. The Government got rid of Wednesday's Question Time against our objections. We are down to just Tuesday for Taoiseach's Questions and now, more weeks than not, we get through two groupings rather than three. It is on us as well, but we need to have a discussion about it. We should try to get through three groupings.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I suggest the Deputy raise it with the Ceann Comhairle or at the Business Committee meeting-----

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I have.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

-----or maybe he can just be more efficient with the use of time.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

It is unsatisfactory. I add my voice to that. We do need to raise this at the Business Committee. Clearly, the debate on the motion on the flotilla is hugely important. We all looked for that so on this occasion, there is no difficulty with moving straight to that debate. However, in principle, to have just two groupings of Taoiseach's Questions when we have all prepared for three is not acceptable and we need to change that.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Yes, but I have asked Members to bear in mind that they make contributions on the questions. There is an issue there as well. As I said, the Ceann Comhairle can deal with it in the context of the Business Committee or Members who are on that committee can raise it.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I was up late last night preparing for the third grouping after watching the presidential debate.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I am sure you were. We can take it if you wish.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

It is fine.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I hope he watched the debate. It was very good.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
Link to this: Individually | In context

He tweeted about it anyway, although it looked like he did not watch it.

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I watched it and then I worked on the parliamentary questions.