Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister, Deputy Denis Naughten, to the House and thank him for a very comprehensive statement on climate action and low-carbon development.

Fianna Fáil recognises that climate change is one of the most, if not the most, pressing moral and practical challenges of our generation. We need to look no further than the recent floods in Inishowen, the widespread drought in southern and eastern Africa and the devastating and extreme weather events in the United States and the Caribbean to see that the time to act is now. The devastating Storm Ophelia is yet another example of a type of extreme weather event that is said to become more likely as ocean and land temperatures increase.

While there is ongoing uncertainty over whether climate change will increase the frequency of hurricanes, Ireland is likely to see an increased number of intense storms. As ocean temperatures warm, storms will move farther east, thus extending the areas that tropical storms and hurricanes affect. Storms are also growing in intensity and destructive potential.

While we welcome the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act, we have a number of issues regarding how it was drafted and implemented. In the first instance, it took far too long for the Government to publish its mitigation plan. Although it was eventually published in July of this year, it lacked vision and ambition. It fundamentally failed to grasp the gravity of climate change and respond to it. It is reprehensible that the Government has lagged behind in introducing innovation schemes to achieve our greenhouse gas reduction and climate justice targets. As it stands, Ireland is almost certain to fail to meet its targets for 2020. Recent figures show that our greenhouse gas emissions increased by 3.5% in the past year, which means that we are facing fines of at least €455 million. This is a considerable sum.

Although the latest emissions figures are encouraging for some sectors, they show that much more needs to be done. While progress has been made in some areas, especially in electricity production and agriculture, to meet 2020 emissions targets, almost none has been made in other areas since 2011, notably home heating and transport. When he was elected Taoiseach, Deputy Leo Varadkar claimed that the Government would be taking on new climate change ambitions in the wake of budget 2018. That is not accurate at this stage although I acknowledge the Minister is doing his best. He is finding it hard to achieve results, however.

Overall, our transport, energy and home heating sectors account for almost half of our emissions, yet the Government has done almost nothing to move these sectors towards a greener future. The Government has dragged its heels on the renewable energy support scheme and the renewable heat incentive, which has more or less frozen development in the renewable energy sector. Despite paying lip service to the concept of renewable transport, the Government has effectively given up on meeting its targets by 2020.

Fianna Fáil is fully committed to making Ireland a leader in tackling climate change. We have detailed policies in this regard. Fianna Fáil and, I am sure, the Minister have received submissions from Trócaire on climate action and low-carbon development. There is information in the document that is deeply concerning for Trócaire, an international organisation. In 2016, the worst El Niño event compounded the damage being done by climate change to lives and livelihoods in the poorest countries. The UN estimated that 50.2 million people were affected by drought in eastern and southern Africa alone. As a result of continued poor rains in 2017, the food and security situation is such that some 20 million in eastern Africa are currently in need of food aid. In 2015, Malawi experienced its worst flooding in decades and a third of the country was declared a disaster zone. Some 63,000 ha were submerged and 250,000 people were displaced from their homes. Ireland is not responsible for that and it is regrettable that the United States of America has decided to pull out of the Paris accord. It was a major climate change initiative but if China and the United States of America do not co-operate in this regard and do not reduce emissions, then Africa will be directly affected. We can do all we can but given our size it is extremely difficult. I hope the Minister will respond to Trócaire and hold discussions with it as it is very genuine about the situation and can be helpful to the Minister as he forges policies in this area. Trócaire has produced a document, Stop Climate Chaos, which is very detailed and which I assume the Minister has received.

Friends of the Earth have also been in touch and its director, Oisín Coghlan, has sent a detailed document relating to the Environmental Protection Agency. Earlier this month the EU independent advisory body on climate change, the European Environment Agency, produced its annual overview of emissions reductions and Ireland is the third highest producer of emissions per person in the European Union, and one of seven EU member states which are set to miss their EU2020 emission reduction targets under the EU effort sharing decisions. Ireland is the only one of the group whose emissions are predicted to continue to rise, which is a damning indictment. I do not know what the situation regarding Moneypoint is and we want Moneypoint to be there but will biomass replace Colombian coal? It is understood that it could bring about a major reduction in that regard and I know it is being considered. The impact would be major because of the emissions of Colombian coal.

I was talking with my wife, Mary, who is an organic farmer and works with Conor on an organic farm in Castlecoote. She suggested there should be a requirement to support the growing of more trees on the land of some 120,000 agricultural holdings under the GLAS scheme, the rural environmental protection scheme or any other new scheme. This would have a marvellous impact. I am not talking about planting a forest on good-quality agricultural land as we must maintain our agricultural land for cattle and sheep production, but there are areas on every farm, perhaps of one acre or less, where one could plant broadleaf trees. If there were ten for every holding there could be 1.2 million and this would reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

I know the Minister is doing his utmost in the areas of electric cars and he said he has experienced driving them. However, if he is driving to Leinster House would he get here without having to charge it somewhere along the way? There are now more places where one can charge a car and in Roscommon town there are certainly more. I understand the Minister's difficulties and he has a major portfolio in this area, on top of the other portfolios he has. His heart is in this task and, being a former Minister, I know that it is not easy to achieve these things. Many agencies work under the Minister and he has to motivate them as he cannot do all the work himself. He also has to guide them and I think he is doing that very well.