Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

No problem. Given I am from County Galway myself, it is lovely to meet all the students.

Amendment No. 26 again relates to section 58A of the 2007 Act, as amended. It seeks to delete the proposed changes in this context to section 44D of the 2007 Act, as amended, which again is around the issue of being able to review the percentage rate regarding renewable transport fuel obligations, while amendment No. 27 seeks to make the same deletion in regard to section 44J. Amendment No. 28 to section 18 seeks to insert a new subsection 58A(3) in the revised 2007 Act to state that in relation to the matters prescribed under sections 44D to 44X of that Act the Minister would not only consult with the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications but also with the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Standards Authority of Ireland, the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland and the Climate Change Advisory Council. This mirrors provisions elsewhere in the Act, except that it also proposes to insert the Climate Change Advisory Council. There will be awareness that I had suggested this body as a potential appropriate party to be consulted in our debate on Second Stage.

Amendment No. 29 seeks to provide in the context of the amendments proposed in section 19 of this Bill to section 64 of the 2007 Act that as well as the agency and the Minister for Transport that the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications would be empowered to bring and prosecute proceedings for offences under sections 44E, 44G and 44GA of the 2007 Act, as amended.This is really sensible. It is one thing to say that one wants to empower the Minister for Transport to bring prosecutions, but to remove the power to issue prosecutions from the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications seems to be a regressive step. I am not going to object to expanding the potential for prosecutions for violations in the context of these serious issues, some of which I have been touching on. They are very serious issues of the breach of regulations relating to the environment and fuels. To remove the power of the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications to pursue such prosecutions is inappropriate at a time when we really need any breach of standards, especially those that touch on areas like renewable fuels, to be taken exceptionally seriously. In that context, I ask that between now and Report Stage, the Minister of State should consider accepting this very simple amendment, which would ensure that as well as the Minister for Transport, the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications would retain the power to initiate prosecutions.

Amendment No. 31 seeks to delete the transfer of functions under section 44D from the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications to the Minister for Transport. Similarly, amendment No. 32 seeks to delete the transfer of functions under section 44J from the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications to the Minister for Transport. Section 44J concerns the discharge of renewable transport fuel or biofuel obligations by payment, allowing obligated parties under this legislation to not act in accordance with the provisions relating to renewable transport fuel via a buyout of such obligations. This is a matter of concern. I mentioned section 44J earlier, but did not go into a lengthy description of why it gives rise to concern. Every Department has obligations in respect of sectoral targets under the climate action plan, but it would be a really regressive situation if the Minister for Transport was in a position not just to change the environmental requirements but also to give an opt-out in respect of those requirements by way of a buyout. Cash is going to be worth nothing when it comes to dealing with the climate. One cannot use money to claw back what gets lost in terms of achieving our carbon emissions reduction targets. I am very concerned about that buyback. I am also concerned, in the context of a Department that does not have a strong environmental oversight, that this provision could be used and could lead to the loss of a number of years of essential emissions reductions. If we have a buyout option, people will be able to evade their responsibilities. The State cannot evade its responsibilities, and we, as humans, cannot evade our environmental responsibilities.

Amendment No. 33 seeks the deletion of the transfer of functions under section 44X from the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications to the Minister for Transport as per section 23. Again, this relates to renewable transport fuel standards and the power to make regulations around minimum standards for such fuel.

Amendment No. 34 relates to the transfer of functions under the EU greenhouse gas emissions reductions regulations. Many of these amendments mirror each other, but a few of them are particularly important. This is one such amendment. I am extremely concerned about the provision that the functions under the EU the European Union (Greenhouse Gas Emission Reductions, Calculation Methods and Reporting Requirements) Regulations are being transferred from the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications to the Minister for Transport. Why are the climate reporting requirements, separate from the climate reporting requirements that all Ministers have under their sectoral targets and so forth, being transferred? Why is the interpretation of the EU standards and regulations and their translation into Irish reporting standards, which is a direct climate and greenhouse gas emissions function, being transferred away from the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, who has overall oversight of our climate action and reporting?

I am not convinced that there is a sound argument for this transfer. It is a wholesale transfer. There are a few areas where I can see a case for doing it, but it would be regrettable if we ended up in a situation where we have a future Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications throwing up his or her hands, saying that the Minister for Transport is in charge, that he or she has no power and that there is nothing he or she can do, even if the decisions being made under these powers, as transferred, are having a direct impact on our greenhouse gas emissions. Given the urgency of the climate crisis, I always feel that everything we can do or control should be done or controlled to the greatest extent. I am concerned about giving these really important areas of decision-making another spin of the wheel to see where they end up because they may not end up being a priority within the Department of Transport, which has many other issues to consider. I am a little concerned as to the underlying logic here. If there is an underlying logic, where are the safeguards that will copper-fasten matters and ensure that the environmental component will be centre stage?

I realise there are a few points where consultation is required and that is something, but it is not quite enough. I am particularly concerned about the buyout, biofuel standards and European-level reporting on greenhouse gases. These are the areas that concern me vis-à-visthe transfer of powers. I apologise for the length of my contribution but this is a very large group of amendments.