Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 24 October 2018
275. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the progress he has made to date on implementing the recommendations on the way in which the State can make Ireland a leader in tackling climate change arising from a Citizens' Assembly report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44016/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe report of the Citizens’ Assembly was submitted to the Houses of the Oireachtas in April of this year, and the Houses subsequently established the Joint Committee on Climate Action to further consider the recommendations and report by the end of January 2019. In the context of the consideration of each of the recommendations of the Citizens’ Assembly, it is now a matter for the Joint Committee to consider whether and how each recommendation might be taken up by Government. In this context, the Committee is engaging with all relevant Government Departments on their respective policies in place and their position in response to the Citizens’ Assembly recommendations.
I was pleased to note that many of the recommendations adopted by the Citizens' Assembly are already being addressed through the implementation of National Development Plan, the National Mitigation Plan and the Energy White Paper. A number of these recommendations are within my own Department’s remit.
Recommendation 2 addresses the leadership role of the State in addressing climate change. My Department published a Public Sector Energy Efficiency Strategy in 2017 which provides for a coordinated, whole-of Government approach to meeting the Government’s target of improving its own energy efficiency by 33% by 2020 and thereby reducing the contribution of the public sector to Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions. The Strategy provides, inter alia, that public bodies are required to implement the Nearly Zero Energy Building standard two years in advance of the private sector and also provides a framework for investment in public building retrofits.
In relation to Recommendation 5, the Government launched, on 31 July, a grant- aided pilot micro generation scheme, targeting solar PV and domestic customers with self-generation. The pilot scheme also supports the use of battery storage for installations over a certain size. This is in line with industry best practice where installations are sized appropriately with the maximum amount of renewable electricity generated being consumed on site by the customer.
Recommendation 6 addresses community ownership of renewable energy projects. The new Renewable Electricity Support Scheme will provide for communities to develop their own renewable electricity projects and for developer-led projects to offer investment opportunities to local citizens and communities.
In relation to Recommendation 9, a strong package of measures to support the roll out of electric vehicles is now in place, supporting the NDP objective of having at least 500,000 electric vehicles on the road by 2030.
While much progress has been made in relation to a number of the Assembly’s recommendations, the Government recognises that further consideration will need to be given to some of the report’s other proposals, including through the ongoing work of the Joint Committee on Climate Action. In light of this, I look forward to engaging with the Joint Committee on its work in the near future.
