Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 8 December 2016
236. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the number of times the expert advisory committee on climate change has met; the date the full committee was appointed; when the first report of the committee on climate change is expected; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39205/16]
View answerIn advance of enactment of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act, 2015, an Advisory Council was established on an administrative basis on 10 June 2015 by the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government. Subsequently, the Climate Change Advisory Council was established on 18 January 2016 by Ministerial order in accordance with section 8 of the 2015 Act and the members were formally appointed by Government, following nomination by the Minister, shortly thereafter.
The Council is independent in the performance of its functions and it is, therefore, solely a matter for it to determine the frequency of its meetings. However, it is understood that the Council has met on six occasions since its formal establishment and is also scheduled to meet today. The Council met twice during the period it was operating on an administrative basis.
The Council has a number of statutory reporting obligations, including with regard to ‘Annual’ and ‘Periodic Reviews’ of progress towards meeting the national transition objective. Because of the time lag before the publication of the statutorily required National Mitigation Plan (NMP) and National Adaptation Framework (NAF), the Council decided to publish an initial paper, called the “Climate Change Advisory Council First Report” on 3 November 2016. In its ‘First Report’, the Council outlined its views on the challenges that climate change presents for Ireland with the aim of assisting in the development of the NMP and the NAF. The Council has also provided advice and recommendations to me in relation to the review of the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) and the initial public consultation on the development of the NAF. The 'First Report' and these submissions are available at http://www.climatecouncil.ie/ .
