Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I remind the Minister of State that there is the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, and there are limits on the tobacco industry lobbying. Meetings with the tobacco industry are not allowed regarding the promotion of the product. That is exactly the reason I am making the point; we have accepted that there are certain industries that we are moving away from and that we need to have special rules around. It is the same as fossil fuel advertisement bans, and that is why the environmental NGOs are calling for those as well. These are sectors where we are running out of time.

We have transparency in respect of fossil fuel companies at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC and at the Committee of the Parties, COP every year, and we have seen the impact those fossil fuel companies have on watering down the measures that are needed to address the climate crisis. I am afraid that I do not accept that currently, the legislation sufficiently covers the fossil fuel industry. This is a huge opportunity for the Minister of State to set Ireland out and to show that we are serious about decarbonising our society, and that we will only engage with the fossil fuel industry when it is essential in terms of regulation of that industry.