Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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112. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he has plans to develop a green jobs programme in view of the climate crisis and the current situation of mass unemployment. [43832/21]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The recovery from COVID-19 presents an opportunity to embrace the transition to low-carbon activities. Climate change and its impacts present a significant threat to all of us and decarbonising our economy while promoting sustainable growth is one of the core objectives of this Government.

Decarbonisation, the transition to a low carbon economy and associated behavioural changes will significantly alter the economy. The scale and nature of the challenge to meet Ireland’s ambitious greenhouse gas emissions targets and lay the foundations for achieving a carbon neutral society by 2050 is profound. Embracing this transition will open up substantial new opportunities for businesses and create new jobs. The government’s Economic Recovery Plan will be a key instrument in doing this. It will encourage job creation and a recovery that promotes sustainable and balanced growth, while not forgetting pre-existing challenges, many of which have been exacerbated as a result of COVID-19.

The Expert Group on Future Skills Needs (EGFSN) has conducted a study on the Skills to Enable the Low Carbon Economy to 2030. This study focussed on skills required to support the delivery of major elements of the 2019 Climate Action Plan. The work of the EGFSN is critical to informing the Government’s approach to skills planning across the education and training system. The findings and recommendations of the report, due to be published in Q4, will assist our climate action and job creation efforts in the coming years.

Under its new strategy for the period 2021-2024, the IDA will assist their clients to develop Corporate Climate Action Plans and to win sustainability investments, while Enterprise Ireland has launched the new Climate Action Enterprise Fund, to support client companies in the low-carbon transition.

This Government recognises that enterprises that make the move early to reduce their carbon emissions will be more resilient to the market and regulatory changes that will deliver this transition to low carbon, and that there are significant opportunities for both existing and new firms to provide the goods and services that will be needed to decarbonise our economy. Through the investments to be set out in the revised NDP, and measures in the Government's forthcoming Climate Action Plan, to be published in the coming weeks, we will continue to enable enterprises to make greener choices and promote sustainable job growth that will address the climate challenge.