Catherine Ardagh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise the issue of climate change. I understand that a fantastic event was held yesterday in Buswell's Hotel to highlight the issue in a novel and practical way. Unfortunately, I was not able to attend due to unforeseen circumstances but I was very impressed by all the feedback I received. Fianna Fáil takes climate change very seriously and we have a strong record of introducing progressive measures to tackle climate change, which is perhaps the greatest threat to the future of our children and our grandchildren. We are fully committed to meeting the targets set out for Ireland in the 2009 EU renewable energy directive to meet 16% of our energy requirements from renewable resources by 2020. Ireland is committed to meeting 40% of electricity demands from renewable sources with 10% for transport and 12% for heat.

Fianna Fáil is committed to meeting our 2020 targets in these areas and has detailed steps to achieving this including, but not limited to, reducing carbon emissions in home heating, reducing greenhouse emissions in agriculture, supporting transport emissions reductions and increasing renewable energies. We also welcome the support of the Dáil for the UN Paris Agreement on climate change. The emissions reduction targets agreed at the COP21 Paris climate change conference present huge opportunities as well as challenges for Ireland. Ireland is not fully energy sufficient and we are excessively dependent on energy importation to power homes and businesses. Ireland should, therefore, focus on reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions rather than seeking to dramatically increase reliance on wind at a very high cost. Other alternative renewable energy resources must also be pursued, such as bioenergy, solar and other technologies, to provide Ireland with a diversified renewable generation portfolio by 2030. I call on the House to schedule an in-depth debate on the UN Paris Agreement on climate change today without further delay.