Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

On the point on the tools, the amendments do not add more but outline what all the areas that the Minister referred to, including river health, should be checked against. The Paris Agreement is not another agreement that the fund might have to comply with; rather, delivering on it is an important check concerning how we invest the fund. Similarly, the sustainable development goals are not an add-on.Rather, they are meant to underpin everything in our whole-of-government approach. The areas I listed are not just transition ones. The Minister spoke about quality employment and so forth. That is there. Some of the elements of what he described in terms of the energy the Government is investing are downstream of these core principles and tools. I do not believe it is an appropriate response to suggest that this is adding extra things in which to invest. Rather, it is adding extra tools to check the choices we are making to ensure that, if we invest in something that is going to support nature, it does so in a way that is consistent with the biodiversity convention. It is not that supporting nature will be up against the biodiversity convention for the €2 million we will be allocating. Presumably, when investments are considered, if they match two or three of the areas identified while also serving the core cross-cutting and umbrella principles, it will help us to know whether we are on the right track and make better decisions.

As to there being limited resources within this fund – the Minister has acknowledged that there are other areas of expenditure that will tackle climate change, and we will need them – that argument does not stand up in this case. That is fine, though. I accept that he is not in a position to accept the amendments at this time.