Climate Change Policy

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 16 November 2023

Thursday, 16 November 2023

Questions (10)

Catherine Connolly

Question:

10. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications further to Parliamentary Question No. 108 of 15 June 2023 , the details of any engagement his Department, or bodies under the aegis of his Department, has had with Galway City and County Councils in 2023 with regard to the development of their local authority climate action plans, and in particular the preparation of their decarbonising zones; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50116/23]

Oral answers (6 contributions)

Deputy Catherine Connolly

My question specifically relates to Galway City Council and Galway County Council. What engagement if any has the Minister, his Department or any bodies under its aegis had in respect of the preparation of these plans, in particular the inclusion of decarbonisation zones? The city council did great work and designated an area on the west side as a decarbonisation zone way back in April 2021, over two and a half years ago, yet there has been no further action because of the delay by the Department.

Deputy Eamon Ryan

The Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021 strengthens the role of local authorities for effective climate action. It sets out a statutory requirement for each local authority to prepare a local authority climate action plan.

The local authority climate action plans must be consistent with the most recently approved national climate plan and include both mitigation and adaptation measures. I requested each local authority to begin preparation of their plans on 24 February last. I issued the statutory guidelines to support local authorities in preparing and implementing their local authority climate action plans on 6 March this year. As per the guidelines, each local authority climate action plan must include a decarbonising zone, DZ. A separate annex has been developed to assist local authorities with preparing their decarbonising zones. Once the local authority climate action plans have been approved by each local authority, implementation of the actions listed in the plan, including the DZs, will commence.

While my Department has had no specific, direct engagement with Galway City or County Council in relation to the local authority climate action plans in 2023, I understand that the Environmental Protection Agency engaged with Galway City and County Council regarding their local authority climate action plan at the SEA scoping stage in October this year. Also, the Electricity Supply Board has planned engagement with Arup which is assisting Galway city in the production of an energy master plan for the city and a DZ implementation plan for the west side area.

I have been engaged and have been going to every single council across the country to discuss the climate action plans. I found that very useful. I talked to both management and councillors. One thing I would say as feedback, based on my sense of that, is that they need to be more ambitious in terms of showing leadership. I mentioned climate adaptation earlier and local authorities stepping up in terms of flood protection as part of our adaptation system. That is an example. However, I believe also in mitigation and reduction of emissions. It should not be just about how we manage our street lighting, although that is important, or how we manage our garbage vehicles or other council trucks. They have to think strategically about how their county and their towns and cities can become centres of excellence and can gain from this as an opportunity by showing leadership, thinking big, thinking strategically and thinking about what economic advantage may come from decarbonisation, not just taking a narrow interpretation that it is their own emissions within the council operations. They should think, act and deliver plans that are bigger than that.

Deputy Catherine Connolly

I agree with the Minister totally, absolutely. They should show vision and they should lead. That is very difficult when staff are constantly moved, when the county council is seriously underfunded and staff are moved from department to department. As soon as they get any expertise, they are moved off under pressure. There is a serious role for the Government in properly resourcing and treasuring the staff who work for local authorities. I have a different view in respect of top management, however, which has utterly failed to deal with the challenge of climate change.

The Government is also at fault. A specific example of that is the decarbonisation zone. The city council did tremendous work and designated the area back in February 2021. They were hoping to bring out the plan by the end of the year. Then they were told to wait for the guidelines. The guideline came just this year and, interestingly, decarbonisation zones are described as a demonstration and a test for what is possible for decarbonisation and climate action at local and community levels. There are no resources or follow-up. They had to wait for those guidelines to come over two years later.

Deputy Eamon Ryan

I agree with the Deputy about the resourcing of local authorities and the need to increase across a whole range of different areas. We have been doing this in the area of climate. We established the four climate action regional offices, CAROs. There may be smaller counties where there might be a total staff in the county of about 300, 400 or 500. That is difficult. Having regional offices with expertise and strength helps. They have been funded to the tune of €10 million. We have also put in new climate community liaison officers and climate development officers in every single council. Those positions have been filled, as I recall, and we are about to roll out further community funding for climate action at community level.

I accept the Deputy's point that on its own this will not be enough, but it is also sometimes about attitude. I have seen with some of the councils I have visited, even within the constrained resources, it is almost more an attitude of mind where this is seen as an opportunity for leadership within the existing resources. They need to be expanded. Others see it, in my mind, as a narrow interpretation of what they could and should do.

The opportunity is also seen in a lot of towns that are starting to embrace this change as an ability, with town centre first, to bring life and economic development back in by defining themselves in this way. It is not just from an environmental perspective but as a better way of life, with the healthier towns and healthier communities that come out of it. I hope some of that attitude across all the employees of the local authorities will be encouraged by the climate action plans.

Deputy Catherine Connolly

I hope I am being constructively critical of the city and county councils in Galway, but it is not totally fair. They are under-resourced. They do not have enough staff and the county council is certainly at its wits' end. They are also competing with a model of development that has continued on, and which was there before we declared a climate emergency, with the same absolute consumerism prevalent. We have no balanced regional development. Galway is designated as one of the five cities while Carraroe, i gcroílár na Gaeltachta, is going under with other towns as well. I think also of Kilmaine and Shrule, which are in Mayo. There is a misalignment of policies. When they do something like designate a decarbonisation zone, there is no action from the Government two and half years later. They were waiting on the guidelines. The guidelines put an onerous responsibility on the local authorities to discuss and liaise and to have co-partnership with stakeholders without any indication of what resources would be available. In Galway city we worked without a biodiversity officer until approximately one year ago. The Government tolerated that situation and at local level told us one could not be recruited because of resources. I am not sure where the truth lies but I have a great empathy with the staff on the ground working within the local authorities.

Deputy Eamon Ryan

I accept Deputy Connolly's point on central government needing to show greater speed. I also accept the need for resources within our local authorities and we have to continue to review that. I will put one other point back to the Deputy. It is not just about the officials; it is also about the councillors because they are the elected representatives. They are the heart and the leaders within the council. In some of the areas it is not necessarily about financial commitment but about a sense of vision for the future and sometimes making very difficult decisions, for example, in the transport area. We do not need to go much beyond the Deputy's own city and council where that has not been possible. It has been a combination of officials but also councillors. That is not all about financing and resources. It is about being willing to take hard decisions.

Similarly in councils throughout the country, we will need real leadership around how we develop renewable power. In certain counties there is no renewable power and others, rightly, are saying they are taking it all and could we not balance this out. It is in those maps and development plans for the likes of renewable power. It is in the likes of those decisions that cannot be taken at central government level. When I had these debates in the council chambers, I would often say that no Minister for Transport will decide what is the best place for a cycle lane or a bus lane. It has to come from local leadership working with the National Transport Authority, NTA. Sometimes it is the councillors we need to count on. That is a resource we know is there. They have a real key role.