Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

109. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on his recent visit to New York for the UN Climate Action Summit 2019. [38849/19]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I attended the UN Climate Action Summit in New York last Monday, 23 September. I was accompanied by Minister Bruton and Ireland’s Youth Delegate, Alicia O’Sullivan.

The Summit was organised by UN Secretary-General Guterres to encourage Member States to rapidly boost ambition in order to meet the targets set under the Paris Agreement.

In my statement to the Summit I outlined Ireland’s actions to date including banning fracking, establishing a climate action fund and divesting the Strategic Investment Fund from fossil fuels. I set out our ambitions under our new Climate Action Plan, highlighting in particular the cross-party agreement to increase carbon tax to €80 per tonne by 2030. I announced that from next year we will ring-fence this revenue to fund new climate action and just transition. I also set out Ireland’s intention to bring exploration for oil to an end on foot of advice from the Climate Change Advisory Council.

Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

110. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on his visit to Hollywood; and the meetings he held. [39951/19]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I visited Los Angeles from 25-27 September to formally open the new Consulate General of Ireland and to attend a number of engagements focussed on developing economic ties with the West Coast of the US, especially in the tourism, creative and tech sectors.

I attended a Tourism Ireland roundtable discussion focused on attracting US tourists to the Irish market and also a dinner event hosted by Screen Ireland and Enterprise Ireland to promote Ireland as a location for the creative screen industries.

I formally opened the new Consulate of Ireland in Los Angeles, in the presence of Mayor Garcetti. I also had a meeting with California’s Lieutenant Governor, Eleni Kounalakis. My programme finished with a community reception at the Loyola Marymount University, celebrating the Irish community on the West Coast of the United States where I met representatives from the diverse community of Irish and Irish-Americans in California.

I met with senior executives from leading US companies in the creative and tech industries, including Disney, Fox Searchlight Pictures, Hulu Netflix, Skydance Media, SpaceX and Warner Bros. I also met representatives of a number of Irish-based companies who travelled to the US for the trade mission, including Ardmore Studios, Element Pictures, Troy Studios and Wild Atlantic Pictures.