Pauline O'Reilly (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I just wish to say that the Green amendment inserts three words. It is the Sinn Féin amendment that only inserts one. I will also make another point. It is a similar case to that of the definitions of "climate justice". If I have counted correctly, five different wordings have been suggested for a definition of "just transition". I will make the same point as I made in respect of the definitions of "climate justice", which is that it is not easy to define these things. Everything we have said regarding our support for a just transition, which is on the record, is the basis for including the principle of a just transition in the Bill and for everything we do internationally and nationally, which includes providing funding for such a transition and supporting the farming community. A just transition is very much about workers. That is where the definition comes from. However, it has to be as broad as possible so that those who do not or cannot work are also supported in a just transition. Those are the points I will make. If you look at the new section 3(3) proposed in section 5, you will see that everything being done in respect of carbon budgets is being done on the basis of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, UNFCCC, and the Paris Agreement, which also recognise the principle of just transition. We can overcomplicate things by having too many definitions in a Bill. These could stymie the kind of action we want to take.