Results 15,221-15,240 of 31,374 for speaker:Eamon Ryan

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (3 Jun 2021)

Eamon Ryan: I will absolutely engage in good faith, will listen to every word and be open to any suggestion but I should also be honest. Good faith also means not giving a false picture. I will say to Deputy Whitmore that we are usually very open to accepting amendments. We were involved in legislation last year on the establishment of the carbon fund from the National Oil Reserves Agency levy. The...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (3 Jun 2021)

Eamon Ryan: I have listened to every line but I do not want to give false expectation to Deputy Duncan Smith. As I said to Deputy Whitmore, my assessment is that of my officials, the Office of the Attorney General and the whole of Government, which has paid razor sharp attention to this legislation as it affects every Department. I also have to listen to them and heed their advice. That is something I...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (3 Jun 2021)

Eamon Ryan: In response to both Deputies, I absolutely have been listening. I have listened to some of the scientific concerns. Amendment No. 107, which I have tabled, tries to address one of the concerns raised. With regard to the activists and others to whom we listen, the critical work we have to do now is in developing and delivering a climate action plan that is fit for purpose and allows us to...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (3 Jun 2021)

Eamon Ryan: There is no opt-out clause for any sector of our society. That is critical in this legislation. How we do this will involve everyone and benefit everywhere. Under the draft section 6A(9)(a)(ii), the advisory council would take into account relevant scientific advice, including on the distinct characteristics of biogenic methane. However, I will not support the amendment in changing the...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (3 Jun 2021)

Eamon Ryan: Can I come back in briefly on that?

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (3 Jun 2021)

Eamon Ryan: I will come back in later. It is an important point which I was keen to come back to.

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (3 Jun 2021)

Eamon Ryan: I will respond briefly to the contribution from Deputy Bruton and to the points made by Deputy Naughten. There will be sectoral targets for agriculture and land use, which will be different from the targets for other sectors and probably less onerous. However, the agricultural sector has to play its part too. I reassure Deputy Bruton that it will be necessary to account for sinks as well...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (3 Jun 2021)

Eamon Ryan: I agree. Our response to climate change has to be centred around climate justice and delivering just transition. The Bill recognises that. The definition is based on the definition that the Mary Robinson Foundation has set out and chimes word for word with amendments Nos. 14 and 15. It refers to the need to "safeguard the rights of the most vulnerable persons and endeavour to share the...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (3 Jun 2021)

Eamon Ryan: The phrase "in so far as is practicable" refers to the fact that we on our own cannot completely address the critical climate justice issue of our time, which is that the poorest parts of the world, namely, the developing and emerging world, will be the most affected. We can play a part and contribute as far as we practically can but we cannot, on our own and single-handedly, address the...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (3 Jun 2021)

Eamon Ryan: We do not have any such mechanisms to hand or that have been considered. We would have to almost re-establish it in legislation, which I would prefer not to do, as it would open up a whole new market. Just to exclude it is not in the current proposals or approach. With regard to the two aspects of this and the potential use of carbon capture and storage, CCS, I will be up-front and open...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (3 Jun 2021)

Eamon Ryan: I cannot support the amendment. The national climate objective, as drafted, specifically sets within it the transition to a climate-resilient, biodiversity-rich, environmentally-sustainable and climate-neutral economy. That sense of resilience is much broader and one I believe is more appropriate. It is sufficiently well drafted in the national climate objective. We might confuse matters...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (3 Jun 2021)

Eamon Ryan: Again, I do not see that the definition provides any greater clarity. I do not see our emissions reductions coming from accounting or storage systems. We are going to have to stop the use of all fossil fuels in the State, in line with the Paris Agreement. We are where we are in using or storing them in the way we have just discussed. Changing the definition would risk uncertainty as to...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (3 Jun 2021)

Eamon Ryan: I share the objective set out in the amendment. It is better covered within the existing provisions in the Bill. When it is amended, the new section 4(8)(k) to be inserted in the Act deals with the requirement for a just transition. It will apply to rural Irish farming more than anything else. This is a better way to achieve that objective. While I understand the objectives of the...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (3 Jun 2021)

Eamon Ryan: I agree with Deputy Bruton that what Mr. Mulvey and others have done in the midlands is a really good example of practical intervention on a just transition basis. That work is far from complete and there is an urgency behind delivering some of the funding that has been allocated. I recognise that, but what has been done is a start in the right direction. The principles of just...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (3 Jun 2021)

Eamon Ryan: I move amendment No. 2: In page 5, line 30, to delete "other than sections 18 and 19" and substitute "other than sections 18, 19, 20 and 21". I confirm that I am in the Leinster House complex. I thank the committee for the work it did on this Bill at pre-legislative stage, which was more extensive than any previous pre-legislative process and was effectively akin to Committee Stage,...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (3 Jun 2021)

Eamon Ryan: I will give the Deputy the details. Of the 29 existing authorisations, three are petroleum leases, only one of which is currently producing. That is the Corrib gas field. Four are lease undertakings, 18 are exploration licences, two are licensing options and two are petroleum prospecting licences. The issue of energy security was debated extensively in recent years at hearings of previous...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (3 Jun 2021)

Eamon Ryan: While I understand the sentiment of the amendment, unfortunately I will not be able to support it. I want to cite where the objective is included in the Bill and is set out clearly in section 5, in the proposed section 3(3), which is probably the most critical section of the legislation: The Minister and the Government shall carry out their respective functions under sections 4, 5, 6, 6B,...

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee Stage (3 Jun 2021)

Eamon Ryan: I am not able to support this amendment. There are already target-setting criteria established in the Bill, which provide that any carbon budget plan or strategy the Government adopts will take account of a number of limited but crucial considerations, such as our EU and international obligations, including the Paris Agreement commitments, as well as the calculated national and voluntary...