As I said earlier, the North-South interconnector is critical to improving the efficient operation of the single electricity market and increasing security of electricity supply across the island of Ireland. It will also help us to move towards 70% renewable electricity, and other commitments that I mentioned earlier and will not repeat. The decision last week by the Minister for Infrastructure in Northern Ireland to grant full planning permission to the project means that the project is now fully consented North a…

The Deputy is representing the concerns of his constituents here, as he is absolutely right to do. This has been a highly difficult process for everyone. As well as the planning process and the other reports I have mentioned, there have been cases brought to the High Court and the Supreme Court, which held a two-day hearing on October 2018. That has not been an easy process for those involved. Irrespective of the history, which goes back 17 years, I have confidence that EirGrid is absolutely committed to carrying o…

I will answer Deputy O'Rourke's questions first. I stand here on behalf of the Irish Government in all its elements, just as the Minister, Ms Mallon, is representative of the Administration up North. I imagine she made her decision in consultation with her colleagues in the same way that I consult with my colleagues regularly-----

-----on the basis that this is a critical project for maintaining an all-island approach to energy. If we break that and lose an all-island approach to energy, it will be very expensive for householders here. We earlier mentioned the high cost of electricity. Failing to maintain an all-island approach and failing to have a united approach to the matter would bring considerable expense to Irish householders. It will bring severe difficulties in the long run and jeopardise security, the creation of employment and dev…

The next ten years will be critical if we are to address the climate and biodiversity crisis which threatens our safe future on this planet. The programme for Government commits to an average 7% per annum reduction in overall greenhouse gas emissions from 2021 to 2030, a 51% reduction over the decade, and to achieving net zero emissions by 2050. It also recognises the special economic and social role of agriculture and the distinct characteristics of biogenic methane, as described by the Intergovernmental Panel on …

Absolutely. I hope we will shortly be able to consider such a review mechanism in the context of a new climate action Bill which will amend the 2015 Act. We hope to put in place a framework of three successive five-year budgets which will cover the coming years and further iterations of the climate action plan. These can be reviewed on a rolling basis, just as the Deputy suggests, with reporting mechanisms that allow us to look at how targets are being reached at a sectoral level. This iterative, long-term process,…

A prosperous and secure future for Irish agriculture is best served under our new climate plan. Central to that plan will be a new land use plan which starts, first and foremost, with a vision for the future prosperity of rural Ireland and the family farm. That will be achieved at the same time as we store carbon in the land using some of the mechanisms Teagasc has suggested, as I outlined, and many more. It will also look at the restoration of biodiversity as central to the future role of farmers in helping to ach…

The first progress report of the just transition commissioner, Mr. Kieran Mulvey, was published on 22 May. The report reflects a comprehensive engagement with relevant stakeholders in the midlands, setting out an analysis of the challenges facing the region, Bord na Móna workers, their families and communities arising from an accelerated exit from peat harvesting. The report contains important recommendations. The Government is already acting on a number of these and is committed to preparing an implementation plan…

Since the Deputy and I discussed this matter, I have had meetings with Mr. Mulvey, the ESB and the manager of Offaly County Council to discuss it. I am fully aware of the concerns in this matter, particularly in respect of the two plants to which the Deputy referred. I am sure the Deputy is fully aware that the only reason tenders for removal of the existing plant had to be advertised was that it was a condition of the original planning permission. The European tendering process in that regard does not commit the E…

The ESB was required to put that advert in as a condition of a planning permission and it has to operate within the law. Yes, we should be open to alternative uses. The reality with the plant itself is the question of what other applications or uses there are for a plant which was very specifically designed, built and has been operated for 18 years for one use. How that very specific infrastructure can be repurposed or reconditioned for another use is not something I have a clear example of elsewhere. However the s…

In January 2018, my Department entered into a five year financial commitment of €10 million to establish four climate action regional offices, CAROs. One of these CAROs covers the Atlantic seaboard north region, encompassing the local authorities of Galway city and counties Galway, Mayo, Sligo, and Donegal. Mayo County Council is the lead local authority for Atlantic seaboard north CARO. While I have had no direct interaction to date with the north Atlantic seaboard CARO, my Department engages with all four CAROs o…

It is my intention to try to provide the resources to ensure local authorities can serve their communities by preparing for the climate future that is ahead of us. The Bill I referred to earlier, which will amend the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015, will include provisions about the role of local authorities and strengthening them in the delivery of new climate action plans. As I said, I have not yet had any direct dealings with the CARO representing the Atlantic seaboard north region. However I …

I welcomed the Supreme Court judgment at the time and I still do. The amendments we will make to the Act will, I hope, reflect the judgment and set in place, as I said earlier, the graduated budgeting process that would allow us to deliver a step by step approach to meeting our climate targets. Without being critical of any one council, I should reflect that in the series of meetings I had throughout the country, particularly on the July economic stimulus, I encouraged councils to make as many applications as they …

The Deputy does not expect a county by county breakdown but I will give the figure for County Louth of the number of houses surveyed so far. Based on the information available on 15 September, I can advise that the following is the number of premises per county that have been surveyed to date: the figure for County Galway is 6,809, for County Louth it is 5,825 and for County Kildare it is 2,818. I am afraid that County Meath is not on my list. I will have to check for Deputy O'Rourke as to the whereabouts of that f…

I am very happy to make this opening statement. I apologise that I was away from the Dáil yesterday, but I am very glad to be back. We have a major challenge in front of us, but it is one that I think that we as a country will be good at. Tackling climate change is something we can be good at and I am convinced that it will be good for us as a people. One would not think that at the moment because in truth we have not been successful in recent decades in addressing the scale of the crisis with the speed of response…

We did not hear a single word denying the science of climate change as well as hearing the words of wisdom. This is why I stand up proud of the Dáil, our political system, the Seanad and the Houses of the Oireachtas. To go back to what I said at the beginning of my opening contribution, it is not all bad in our country. In other parliaments there is real division, doubt and dissension on this critical issue and science is not acknowledged. This is not the case here. I accept absolutely the words of wisdom. What we …

I am very happy to be here to take this matter because this is a road and area I am very familiar with.

I am sure he will be following me all the way to ministerial office at some stage. The improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads is the statutory responsibility of the relevant local authority in accordance with the provisions of section 13 of the Roads Act 1993. State grants, where applicable, are intended to supplement the funding allocated to the maintenance and improvement of roads by local authorities from their own resources. In the case of the four Dublin councils, under the arrangement put in …

The Deputy is right that I know this particular road well. I am also very familiar with Hillcrest Road, which the Deputy mentioned, and the travails of its residents over the years as a result of the inordinate traffic volumes on what is a narrow residential road. The Department engaged with the council in July last year and came back strongly with the position that funding for this scheme could not be drawn down under the regional and local roads grant programme. As I indicated in my reply, the roads already ident…

I thank Deputy Doherty for raising the case, representing the family in question, and trying to relieve some of their terrible loss by ensuring that if there are failings in our system, they do not go unchecked and are actually addressed. I commit to following up with the Minister for Health to ensure that the report's findings are implemented. Our cancer system has improved significantly in recent years - everyone would recognise that - but that is not to say there are not failings in the system. A key issue we ne…