Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

With respect, this is not happening in a void. There is a Government and then there is the Parliament. There is the Executive and there is the Legislature.As the Legislature, one of our political responsibilities is to try to ensure the best possible legislation and the greatest transparency and accountability in that. In speaking about transparency, I do not understand, given the Minister's eagerness to have discretion and accountability for Ministers, the reason he does not accept my amendments that would require the Minister to publish the reasoning behind the Minister's opinion in respect of what measures should be taken. That is an appropriate level of accountability and transparency. As somebody with political responsibly in the Legislature, it is appropriate that such a measure would be in the Bill, especially given the context of the impact they may have.

In terms of the Minister's opinion, I believe there should be political accountability for Ministers, but we should also bear in mind that we have Ministers on this island who are climate change deniers. It is not in this Government, but on this island. We have had situations whereby all of the evidence points in one direction and a Minister who has a very particular set of opinions. In that context, the least the public need and the Legislature want is not to have to get it piecemeal by asking the Minister questions or tabling Commencement matters, in a committee or wherever else, but that we would have clarity on the basis for the Minister's opinions on something as important as a roadmap of actions.

When we talk about accountability, the Department this year argued successfully in the High Court that because the reference in the previous climate Bill was only to the Minister and not to the Minister and the Government, that the Government could not be held accountable in respect of actions concerning the climate Bill, specifically in sections 4 and 15, as it was not a relevant body. It is one thing to say a Minister can be held accountable, but it is crucial that the Government can be held accountable given the scenario I outlined concerning agriculture where there could be three different climate Ministers in a year. It is appropriate that the individual Minister is clear and accountable, but it is also important that the Government is accountable and that there is transparency on the basis of the decisions. The conversation often goes back to getting into the nuts and bolts of what we do. These are the roadmaps of measures. They are the real actions. This is the nitty-gritty of delivering. There is a lot of choice in that space. As the Minister outlined, there are choices on transport and being willing to step up on public transport and retrofitting. We are all at that space; and this is that space. It is important that there would be a publication of the reasons for the Minister's opinion in respect of the measures that should or should not be taken. Given that the Minister accepts the central role of the Minister in that regard, even if he wants to keep that language, I do not understand the reason he does not accept my requirement for publication.