Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 135: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he participated in a climate policy workshop that was organised by IBEC; if this conference has any relevance to the fact that a major climate policy review is due to be published in the coming weeks; the reason no other stakeholders were consulted with in the run up to this review but IBEC; and his views on same. [28998/11]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

At the invitation of IBEC, I agreed to give the closing address at their workshop on Responding to the Challenges and Opportunities of Climate Change which was held on 5 October 2011. I attended the closing session at which I was the only speaker. From my perspective, the workshop had no direct relevance to the timing of the climate policy review which I am finalising. There was no bilateral discussion on either the timing or content of the review.

In my closing address, I told the participants that my immediate priority is to complete the review of current national policy in light of existing and anticipated national greenhouse gas mitigation targets. That piece of work, which is almost finalised, will be an important contextual foundation on which the next phase of national climate policy development will be built. That next phase will need to involve engagement from all of the key stakeholders and I am currently considering how best to take that process forward after the review is finalised later this month.

The climate policy review has been raised in general terms at recent bilateral meetings which I have had with a number of stakeholders, including the Irish Environmental Network and the Irish Farmers Association. It was also raised at a recent bilateral meeting with the Irish Corporate Leaders on Climate Change at which both Business in the Community and Friends of the Earth were represented.