Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I fully respect the views of all Senators. This is an important Chamber for debate and it is important that we listen and discuss the issues involved.

The amendment provides for the appointment of the members of the climate change advisory council to be performed by the Oireachtas rather than the Government on the nomination of the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government. The independence of the council is explicitly enshrined in section 11(3) following an amendment that was introduced by my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly. Accordingly, there should be no fear in respect of the council providing robust and independent advice to the Government. Second, and as stated earlier, the council is now operational. Given the importance of its tasks, it was critical that it started its work as soon as possible. Senators will welcome that. With this in mind, the Minister prioritised the establishment of the council in June of this year to ensure it would be up and running and deliberating on the national climate agenda pending the enactment of the Bill. In essence, there was no time wasting, which is important. It is important that it is the Government that will appoint the advisory council, reflecting the fact that the council's role is to provide advice to the Government, as a whole, and individual Ministers with responsibility for mitigation or adaptation matters in the various sectors. Accordingly, I cannot accept the amendment and ask that it be withdrawn.