Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I note the Minister of State’s comments on amendment No. 76, but climate change and climate action are at the very heart of local government and are Government policy. The Government empowered local authorities in this regard and there is a great deal of focus on climate change. The Department of local government is responsible for them. In fairness, the Minister of State commends them constantly. We know the importance and significance of local councils driving action on climate change. While we are not focusing on that matter today, I am encouraged. Senator Garvey was not present earlier when I spoke about this. I thank her and Senator Pauline O’Reilly for proposing – actually, “tabling” is the correct word – this amendment. I encourage the Minister of State to revert on this. We have to send out a strong and clear message to our local authorities. While this Bill is about a specific mayor, the Minister of State is committed to empowering and supporting all local authorities in this area. It is important that we embed that commitment in primary legislation rather than regulation. We seem to be running afraid of primary legislation, but primary legislation is our function in these Houses while the Minister has responsibility for regulations.

This is a significant, good and positive amendment and I am encouraged by the fact that the Minister of State will do something about it. He is on record as saying that he will revert on Report Stage with proposals around the amendment’s subject matter. Is my understanding correct?