Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 7:

In page 6, line 11, to delete "18 months" and substitute "6 months".

Section 4, as drafted, reads:

(1) The Minister shall—(a) not later than 18 months after the passing of this Act, and

(b) not less than once in every period of 5 years,make, and submit to the Government for approval, a plan, which shall be known as a national low carbon transition and mitigation plan (in this Act referred to as a “national mitigation plan”).

Why delay further?During the lifetime of the previous Government, the former Minister, Mr. Gormley, introduced a climate change Bill in 2010 and I am informed that Senator Bacik introduced one in 2007. This is not exactly something we must invent ourselves. Climate change has been around as an area of research and public policy for a long time and it is time the officials in the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government speeded up and stopped delaying the process by 18 months. This should be ready to go now. The Paris conference will take place in about five or six weeks' time and asking for a further delay of 18 months is unreasonable. Again, the kind of torpor that was manifest in the Department of Finance with regard to banking appears to apply here with regard to environmental matters. This is not good enough.