I am.

As my colleague said, it is a pity that we cannot debate this Bill in a bit more detail, not because anybody opposes it but because many of us have ideas about medical cards and how they operate and this would have been a great opportunity to address them. Having sat on the Joint Committee on Employment Affairs and Social Protection, I know that people have many concerns and fears around losing their medical card or GP card in respect of different employment. That is a huge area that could be worked on. Senator Con…

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. This is another piece of legislation in the context of stimulus, which is badly needed for society and the economy in Ireland, across Europe and across the world in the aftermath of the Covid crisis. As we identified many years ago, stimulus is the best response to a period of potential recession, rather than the austerity that was chosen in the past. In that context, it is important to note that yesterday the European fund was put in place. There were some disappointme…

There is interest.

Will the interest be going back into the SMEs?

Unfortunately, as it has been ruled out of order I cannot really speak on it. My hope was that it would have been a potential saving for the State. Earlier, the Minister of State called for accuracy from others in the House. With regard to being accurate, I know the policy intent is that the SMEs benefit but if there is interest on the loans there is still a profit mechanism built into that money and finance. In a scenario where these loans are successful and the businesses thrive, the profit would go into the bank…

I am not arguing the policy intent as to why there is a guarantee. I have accepted this. The Minister of State called for people to be factual earlier and he needs to be factual. Of course, it would only be called on if there were a loss. This is the legislation whereby the State says if there is loss it will take that hit. What I am pointing out is that there is still a profit even at 2% or 1%, and I hope it is very low. I would be delighted if the Minister of State were to inform me, for example, that any interes…

I move amendment No. 2: In page 5, between lines 32 and 33, to insert the following: “ Report on Credit Guarantees 7. (1) The Minister shall, within eight months of the commencement of this Act, prepare, in consultation with the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, a report to consider: (a) the role played by the State through credit guarantees under this Act and the Act of 2012; (b) the risk absorbed by the State through credit guarantees under this Act and the Act of 2012; and …

That is a basic principle. That was the case between 2009 and 2014. Mr. Lenihan's successor as Minister for Finance, Mr. Michael Noonan, changed and widened that scheme so that 100% of all profits made by the banks could be written off. The Comptroller and Auditor General, who sets and measures the financial interests of the State in a way that is beyond and separate from all of us, has estimated the cost to the State of the deferred tax assets scheme will be €29 billion, of which €12 billion will arise specificall…

I congratulate the Minister of State and the Minister on their leadership of what will be a new and exciting Department. It is important that each element of this new Department is given its rightful consideration and that some parts of it do not overly determine the approach to others. Science is a part of the new Department but, as has been eloquently said, it should not determine all of the other parts. The fact that science is a focus of this Ministry should not mean that we are only talking about the scientifi…

I welcome the Minister to the House. From his perspective, the primary purpose of this Bill is the establishment of the climate action fund. Like everyone else, we welcome the establishment of a climate action fund. However, there is much within that and during the debate in the other House, much of the focus was on what it might fund and the scope and parameters the Minister effectively gives himself in its operation. Some very constructive amendments were tabled which thought in an imaginative way about how that …

I move amendment No. 1: In page 6, between lines 31 and 32, to insert the following: “and (c) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (5): “(6) The Agency, in the performance of its functions and powers under this section, shall be cognisant of the Fossil Fuel Divestment Act 2018 and Irish and EU climate targets. A regular report on actions or positions taken in a representative capacity under section 8 will be provided to the Minister.”.”. Considerable functions and powers are given to the ag…

I am not proposing to give the energy policy remit to the agency; I am trying just to ensure coherence. While we have talked about the State, the powers extend to actions in the State or elsewhere, and in international meetings they relate to wider oil stocks. This is very important. We should absolutely be divesting, but we have seen that Japan, for example, divested at home but then was sponsoring oil-fired plants in Bangladesh. We need a consistency and a coherence. I am not suggesting we widen the function of N…

I move amendment No. 4: In page 6, between lines 31 and 32, to insert the following: “Amendment of section 14 of Principal Act 6. Section 14 of the Principal Act is amended— (a) in subsection (3), by the insertion of the following after paragraph (f): “(g) sustainable energy or climate science.”, and (b) in subsection (8), by the substitution of “the proceeds of the levy collected and recovered and the proceeds of the biofuel levy collected and recovered” for “the levy and biofuel levy”.”. The amendment again seeks…

I thank Senator Ward for his comments. They are very reasonable proposals. I recognise that the Government parties might not be able to support this amendment today, but the Minister should consider the constructive proposals Senator Ward has put forward. We should not be waiting for ten or 20 years. The Minister knows he has four or five years in government ahead of him and we should look to have started a sustainable energy reserve fund by the end of that time. It is not simply that we are waiting for the landsca…

I move amendment No. 6: In page 12, line 16, after “year.” to insert the following: “Where the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform declines consent for monies from a source other than the Houses of the Oireachtas to enter the Climate Action Fund, a rationale for such a decision should be published and laid before both Houses.”. I was glad to hear the Minister mention that he has an ambition for the EU recovery fund and the European Investment Bank, EIB, pan-European guarantee, for example, and for other sour…

Can the Minister assure me that he does not see the requirement for consent from the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform as likely to limit his ambition in seeking revenues for this fund in any way?

I thank the Minister. In that context, I will withdraw the amendment.

I move amendment No. 7: In page 12, line 38, after “economy” to insert “and society”. We have spoken about the competitive process. I accept that the Minister has said it will not always be a competitive process. That is appropriate because there are actions in some specific areas that simply need to be taken, for example, in the midlands. Shannon is an area that also will need a just transition, especially as the path forward that was planned has now been changed. A new path will be needed. As the Minister said, t…

It is interesting that the Minister has mentioned the environmental projects. Care work might not be profitable, but it is important. Ecological care as well as social care are very good examples of things in which the State might wish to invest in a community in transition. Our national parks and monuments could be subjects of community resilience. Given the focus on community resilience in the forthcoming Bill and that the Minister believes that will be able to widen the scope and ambition of the climate action f…