Vol. 497 No. 1
7 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if he will report on the work of the interdepartmental green network; the matters of policy which form the agenda for the bilateral meetings which have taken place on foot of this initiative; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20954/98]
The green network of Government Departments, originally established in l994, was relaunched last May, at senior management level, with a wide-ranging brief to deepen cross-departmental awareness of the environmental agenda. The network is chaired by my Department and has had two meetings so far this year. It is working within the overall framework of An Action Programme for the Millennium, under which one of the major objectives of Government is to make concern for the environment central to all policy decisions, and against the background of Sustainable Development: A Strategy for Ireland, which also identified integration of environmental considerations into Government decision-making as a key mechanism in the pursuit of sustainable development.
To date, the network has focused its work in a number of specific areas, in particular to bring environmental and economic perspectives to the complex task of integration. It has reviewed relevant experience in Europe, and is developing a pilot system for the eco-auditing of policies in Ireland. It has agreed "task management" arrangements to lead and report on the detailed measures necessary to implement the national sustainable development strategy. It has reviewed the European Commission Communication on Partnership for Integration and Eurl conclusions, from June l998, prioritising integration at EU level in the areas of transport, energy and agriculture. It has also considered necessary preparations for a forthcoming OECD environmental performance review of Ireland.
In addition, the network provides a forum for ongoing emphasis on the internalisation of environmental considerations across Government Departments, and for discussion of cross-cutting issues including climate change policy, economic instruments for environmental protection and green housekeeping.
The Minister has touched on a number of issues. Does he agree it is vital to have co-operation if we want to make an impact on such a huge and complex topic as climate change? The Minister promised to look at eco auditing prior to the election. What progress has been made on this vital issue? He managed to win support from the green lobby through election promises, but many of these people are disappointed with what has happened. Is the Department of Finance the stumbling block? The Minister mentioned interdependence and co-operation. If we want a sustainability strategy, we should have eco taxes. The green taxation committee is up and running, although I do not know what progress has been made. Is the Department of Finance not playing ball on this issue?
I speak about eco auditing in the context of a range of policies, legislative measures, etc. I agree with the Deputy on the importance of this green network and of integrating policies and environmental considerations and concerns across Departments. The green network of Departments is focusing on eco auditing and trying to bring forward a model for all Departments. They are discussing this together to ensure there is a formal procedure for identifying the environmental impact of sectoral policies across the board, including legislative measures, plans, programmes, policy statements, etc.
When preparing the original policy document, I thought this aspect would be a lot more simple than it is, particularly when it came to identifying what needs to be done in terms of eco auditing policies. We are looking at systems in other countries and the best example we have seen is in Denmark. The eco audit will address significant positive or negative impacts on the environment, alternative policy options in certain cases, measures which will eliminate or mitigate harmful effects and identification of environmental standards or licensing arrangements which will help the environment.
The Deputy also asked about green taxes. I will pursue an agenda for the budget which will include a green tax system. We made a small start in the motor tax system earlier this year. We must be conscious at all times of CPI, for which the Department of Finance has responsibility. Departments and Ministers accept the need to move in this direction, but I would like to see them moving a little faster.
Does the Minister agree with the analysis of Mr. John FitzGerald of the ESRI that the only way we can tackle CO 2 abatement is through the imposition of energy taxes? As regards eco auditing, it is important that we look at sustainability indicators and that we do not measure our progress only on the basis of the Celtic tiger, but also on the quality of life. Eco auditing goes hand in hand with sustainability indicators. What progress has been made on that?
I am glad the Minister supports green taxation. How long will we have to wait before it is introduced? I do not want to sound alarmist, but we are facing serious global problems and each country must play a role and face up to its commitments.
I agree with the Deputy that sustainability must be addressed and it is being addressed by the green network of Departments on an ongoing basis. Sometimes progress is a lot slower than we would like. Comhar, the new sustainable development partnership forum, in consultation with the task managers we have set up under the green network of Departments, will agree a timetable on the progress being made by the task managers in the implementation of the sustainable development strategy. I hope this will not only be discussed and advanced in the green network of Departments, but that it will also have a public face in the partnership forum.
We will not be able to tackle the problem of climate change without the imposition of energy taxes. That is the analysis of the ESRI, although other commentators might have a different view. I want to know where the Minister stands on this issue. Does he support the transfer of CO 2 credits or the imposition of energy taxes?
As regards meeting our commitments, we must look at a range of measures. I do not agree with the ESRI analysis, but I have no problem expressing the view that we must introduce environmental and energy taxes to attain the targets we have set ourselves for 2008 to 2012. The sooner people in industry and agriculture realise that, the better. That is why we are going through this process at present.
Does the Department of Finance support that?
It is projected that if we continue as we are at present we will exceed our 1990 levels of CO 2 emissions and that we will be in breach of the commitments we gave in Kyoto. Does the Minister agree with recent newspaper reports that Europe will impose punitive measures on us for exceeding our levels of CO 2 emissions? If we introduce energy taxes, we will not be competitive in Europe.
That is not true.
The UK expects to have £1 billion worth of CO 2 credits for sale.
We should not avoid the issue of energy or green taxes, but discuss their merits or otherwise. That is why the ESRI report and one or two other reports are helpful. Competition is an issue. However, people who say it will make Irish industry less competitive should look at the examples of Denmark and the Scandinavian countries which have energy taxes but are no less competitive. It is a question of how one introduces the tax. When we speak about energy or green taxes, we should not focus only on energy. There are other mechanisms we should discuss in a positive manner. We could discuss clean technology, energy conservation and sustainability and more efficient use of existing technology to reduce the existing level of waste. We should not focus on any particular set of measures because we will have to adopt a range of measures to ensure we meet these targets.
Regarding the matter Deputy Clune raised, it is the subject of a later question. We are using 1996 figures in this regard. We have no means of verifying the figures in the newspaper article to which the Deputy referred.
