Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 May 2021
220. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the actions he has taken to promote and encourage participation in the consultation Climate Conversation - Climate Action Plan 2021, including all media advertisements and social media posts between 16 March 2021 and 12 May 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26395/21]
View answerThe Climate Conversation asks citizens and communities to tell us what getting to net zero means to them – the challenges, their hopes, and the ways Government can support them to take action. My Department has taken a number of steps to promote and encourage participation in this process.
Firstly, much consideration has been given to the design of a consultation that is user-friendly, easy to complete, and housed on an accessible platform. My Department has ensured that the open consultation period is long enough to support widespread engagement.
In order to accommodate the two-way dialogue that a process like this requires, my Department worked closely with Local Authorities and Public Participation Networks to organise virtual discussion forums, in order to give the opportunity to individuals and communities across all regions to have their say. As part of this process my Department conducted 28 virtual worskhops across 26 counties. This included 18 Public Participation Network sessions, organised with the support of the Local Authorities, and 12 youth conversations, organised with the support of Foróige and Comhairle na nÓg. In addition, two in-depth dialogue sessions were held, with almost 50 householders, community representatives, NGO representatives and students. My officials conducted briefings and information sessions with Environmental NGOs and stakeholders to promote and discuss the consultation.
In terms of wider communications, my Department has invested a great deal of time and resources into ensuring that this consultation is highly visible and that the public are encouraged to participate. This includes the following promotional activities:
- A national radio campaign, broadcast in a burst when the consultation first opened, and targeted at citizens who may be less active online or on social media. This campaign achieved an audience reach of 750,000, representing over half the radio listenership of the selected stations nationally.
- Regular media engagement from myself and my Government colleagues, including print, TV, radio and podcasts, aimed at a variety of audiences.
- A 6-week social media campaign across Facebook and Instagram, targeted at the 16-35 age groups, and utilising a variety of content including video, Instagram Stories and static posts. The performance of this campaign up to the end of April was as follows: Reach: 812,754; Impressions: 4,674,247; Post engagements: 19,402.
An ongoing organic campaign across Twitter and Linked In, targeting specific themes related to the consultation, including Home, Travel, Waste and Community. A summary of these organic posts is contained in the table below.
In addition, my Department has leveraged the communications network across government and the wider public sector to ensure all messages around participation in the Climate Conversation consultation are shared and amplified.
