Seanad debates

Wednesday, 25 November 2015

Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages

 

10:30 am

Photo of Sean BarrettSean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 12:

In page 13, lines 4 and 5, to delete "(other than ordinary members to whom subsection (2)applies)".

This amendment deals with the composition of the council. There was serious disappointment in environmental circles that representatives from public bodies - Sustainable Energy Ireland, the director general of the EPA, the director of Teagasc and the director of the Economic and Social Research Institute - were initially due to be involved. I return to the finding made by the banking inquiry to the effect that people on the public payroll never become contrarians - they do not participate in the debate and they operate in controlled lines of thinking. That is the disappointment I have there. The other disappointment - I say it against my own profession - is that there will be too many economists on the body. We need the expertise in the area. Amendment No. 12 seeks to delete the words "other than ordinary members to whom subsection (2) applies". Subsection (4)(a) would then read "In nominating the chairperson and the ordinary members [other than the ordinary members whom I have just mentioned] of the Advisory Council, the Minister shall have regard to the range of qualifications, expertise and experience necessary for the proper and effective performance of the functions of the Advisory Council." I think it was wrong to put people from the four public bodies on the council in the first instance. I am of the view that their qualifications, expertise and experience should also be taken into account. I have doubts that they will be able to contribute to the effective performance of the functions of the advisory council. When the members of the council were nominated, there was much surprise that people who are well known for their involvement with environmental matters were not nominated. The other criticism is that there are too many economists on it and too many people from the bureaucracies. We will not get radical thinking from our bureaucracies. That is another lesson we have learned from the banking inquiry.

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