Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 7 February 2017
37. Deputy James Lawless asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment when his Department will initiate the national dialogue on climate change; the amount of funding that has been allocated to the dialogue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6090/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI will be brief. I did not realise it was the Minister's first day back. I also welcome him back to action. It is good to see him back on his feet, as they say.
A Programme for a Partnership Government includes a commitment to establish a national dialogue on climate change. This dialogue does not appear to have started. It is targeted for 2017. We are now into February 2017 and there is no sign of it. It is to include a forum for all stakeholders, communities, commercial bodies, non-governmental organisations, NGOs, and businesses and the farming community. There is no sign of it yet. My concern is that it will become a blockage to progress in the area. Will the Minister make a statement on its current position, including the funding that has been allocated?
I thank Deputies Stanley and Lawless for their kind comments.
The programme for Government includes a commitment to establish a national dialogue on climate change. This builds on the commitment in the energy White Paper to establish a national energy forum to maximise and maintain consensus on the broad policy measures set out in the White Paper required to ensure the transition to a low-carbon energy future.
It is my intention that the national dialogue on climate change will encompass not only the role envisaged for the national energy forum but also a wider focus to include the examination of key infrastructural, land use, security of supply and economic issues that need to be addressed in the long-term transition to a low-carbon, climate resilient future.
It is important the national dialogue on climate change reflects the views of all stakeholders, including communities, non-governmental organisations, business and the wider Departments and State agencies. The briefing document on Ireland's first national mitigation plan, which I published on 1 February, and the formal consultation on the draft plan, which will commence in mid-March, are integral parts of the dialogue. I also intend to initiate a further consultation later this year on Ireland's national adaptation framework, which will also form part of the dialogue, to address our national response in dealing with the impact of climate change.
I will announce full details of the national dialogue on climate change shortly. The initial allocation of €350,000 has been made in 2017 towards the dialogue.
I can understand why Deputy Lawless says we are in February and there is no sign of the national dialogue but I must smile to myself because Deputies Stanley and Sherlock, who have been around this House an awful lot longer, would be able to explain that 2017 could be 31 December 2017. That date would still comply with the commitment set out in the programme for Government. However, it is not my intention to establish the national dialogue only on 31 December. We have had a number of priority issues within the Department. It was important to get these documents published in advance of commencing the dialogue, but it is my intention to try to move forward with the dialogue as quickly as possible and try to facilitate as much constructive debate across this country as possible.
As they say, past performance is no indicator of future performance. Just because it was done in a certain way for years and years does not mean it was the right way to do it. If we can do things more quickly, sooner and more effectively, let us do so rather than kick them to touch. We have had consultations and task forces. Now is the time for action on the national dialogue. It is an important step.
My primary concern is perhaps not so much the dialogue as the possibility that it will become a block to action coming at the end of it. The dialogue is much needed, but the sooner the dialogue starts and finishes, the sooner the much-needed action kicks in. We are well behind on our 2020 targets. In March of last year, the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, produced a report predicting that Ireland's emissions would be between 6% to 11% below the 2005 levels, which indicates that we have actually stepped backwards in this area. Given the global context, President Trump's various remarks and his immediate steps to row back Mr. Obama's climate change programme, it is even more a priority that Ireland meets its own obligations and takes immediate steps towards that.
Regarding the energy mix, the REFIT programme is still stalled, we have not seen action on solar energy and we have an overemphasis on wind energy. I find it difficult to see at this stage how the 2020 targets will be met, or will the country end up paying fines for lack of compliance? These are two nightmare scenarios we would rather avoid. I ask the Minister to bring forward the dialogue post haste.
The fact the dialogue has not commenced is not a block to action. We have published the final consultation on the renewable heat incentive scheme. It will be up and running this year. We have published a discussion document on the mitigation plan. The formal consultation on that will begin in March. We are now working on the adaptation plan. We will also consider the replacement for the renewable energy feed in tariff, REFIT, scheme and publish proposals on that.
What was important was to put these documents out into the public domain and start the discussion in order that there is a context to the debate on the national dialogue. The plan for the national dialogue is that it will be much more far-seeing and far-reaching. We will focus on 2050 rather than 2020. Regarding our 2020 targets, a renewable energy progress report was published by the European Commission on 1 February. The report at this stage projects that by 2020, Ireland will be at 15.5% of its 16% target, which is a shortfall of 0.5%. I am not happy with that, but the trajectory is not as bad as the impression that has been given, and we have far harder challenges to meet in 2030.
I ask the Minister to give in his concluding remarks the details of the framework. What funding has been allocated to it and how is its roll-out envisaged? Will it be a series of workshops around the country or a convening of all the great and the good at some forum? How exactly will it work?
Regarding the meeting of our targets, and I appreciate the Minister said we are projected to be 0.5% away from where we need to be, I attended the European Forum for Renewable Energy Sources, EUFORES, conference a few months ago and was frankly embarrassed to see on a screen Ireland at the bottom of the table in terms of meeting our climate change targets. It is an emergency. There are many other challenges facing the country, not least President Trump, Brexit, etc., but climate change must be up there with them. As a nation looking to long-term sustainability and taking the long-term view, it is paramount that we make progress in this area. I ask the Minister to address this as well.
I thank the Deputy for observing the time.
First, €350,000 is allocated for this year in that regard. If the Deputy has any suggestions or thoughts as to how we can engage with communities throughout the country, I am quite happy to hear them. Suggestions have been put to me about the public participation networks and how they could be involved in the national dialogue. I also want to see schoolchildren involved in it because the reality is that action or inaction now will have implications for young people today in getting employment in the future and having to deal with the consequences if we fail to deliver the targets for 2050. Therefore, it is important that young people also be engaged with this.
Based on the European Commission projection, we will fall short of our targets, but I want to try to see if we can hit that 2020 target and start working towards our 2030 target. It is important to point out that we are leading the world in having test sites for renewable wave and tidal energy. We are leading in some areas. In fact, the European Commission today published a very complimentary report on our management of waste.
