Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 18:

In page 10, line 38, to delete "the need to promote" and substitute "Ireland’s commitments under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the need to promote long term".

We do not need to go over this again. This amendment is about the need to promote Ireland's commitments under the United Nations sustainable development goals and the need to promote long-term sustainable developments. It seeks to ensure that when we talk about sustainable development we are talking about long-term sustainable development and that we are giving recognition to the United Nations sustainable development goals. We had this debate in regard to other issues. This is yet another way that it could be elegantly inserted into the Bill.

Amendment No. 19 is one on which we had a passionate debate. I hope it was registered as being a passionate debate from across the House. This is again another amendment that has been signed by all groups in the Opposition in regard to the Aarhus Convention, the principles of access to environmental information and access to justice and that they would be core and had regard to in how the measures in this Bill are delivered. This is important and a matter of serious concern at a time when we see kite-flying around, for example, judicial reviews and the idea of limiting them. It is important that access to justice is not compromised in any way and that this Bill, or any other measures under climate, are not used as a flag in regard to curtailing access to justice and curtailing the use of the Aarhus Convention.

This is a really important area. The Minister heard in the previous debate how passionately all of the groups across this House feel about the Aarhus convention and its centrality. There is a concern in regard to the incremental erosion or shrinking of space in terms of that participation and engagement and in regard to the issue I highlighted earlier whereby those who are championing biodiversity and raising our obligations under, for example, the EU directives on habitats on birds, etc., are the same people who are championing climate change in terms of responsible climate action that is environmentally consistent and beneficial.