Emer Currie (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This Bill is about breaking down barriers and putting climate action into the hands of communities. Whose hands could be better than the hands of children and empowering schools that are leading the way? This is not just about microgeneration' it is also about letting them know that they have control over their future. While the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill to be debated in the House this week is a legislative framework for action and accountability, this evening we are discussing allowing change happen in our communities which is ultimately where the change needs to happen and we can play a vital role in that.

I am very much in favour of the exemption from planning permission for solar panels on schools and removing other restrictions from homes and businesses. I am on the board of an enterprise centre in Dublin 15, which wants to get its teeth into this. This is something that has been mentioned for schools in the community but it was too much hassle for them. The powerful part of this is looking at the way green schools operate and how they have been able to work in the areas of waste and biodiversity. Now they can work in the area of energy to help us meet our ambitious target of 70% renewable electricity by 2030. It also allows the idea of green schools to start happening in communities.

It is a powerful approach that can be replicated on a wider basis in communities. We need to empower Tidy Towns committees and others in the community to come together, as they already do under the sustainable energy projects, but in a more meaningful way relating to solar panels. We can start to expand from green schools into our communities so that we are bringing homes together, bringing community centres together or a mixture of both. That is what the Bill does.

I commend my Green Party colleagues. It is a practical Bill with great potential. It will help to address the barriers and put the power where it needs to be. I am enthusiastic about the prospect of microgeneration. I know the Minister of State is preparing a scheme on that at the moment. This is definitely where we need to be. We should never underestimate how the little things can create something with such power, as this can do for schools throughout the country.