I thank the Deputy very much. The Government is committed to protecting Ireland’s present and future generations with a whole-of-Government approach to climate adaptation underpinned by the 2024 national adaptation framework, NAF. This framework, as the Deputy knows, is co-ordinated by our Department via the national adaptation steering committee, NASC. In 2025, the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, published Ireland’s first national climate change risk assessment, NCCRA. It identifies national climate change r…

The Deputy has got it, as we have. The challenge is real. We have moved to a point where the doubters in relation to climate change are starting to understand that it is real and that it is here. We have to put in place a systemic approach to addressing it in respect of the adaptation and mitigation measures we put in place. As I said, it is co-ordinated centrally. The involvement of the local authorities is the appropriate way. We have the sectoral plans in the first instance across the various areas. The Deputy i…

The health issues are an important area, in particular for people with compromised immune systems or categorised illnesses and the elderly who find themselves depending on their accommodation. That is why, as I identified, there are 13 sectoral plans, one of which is health. That is clearly for the Department of Health and the HSE to work on, developing plans and procedures to mitigate, insofar as possible, the greatest impacts of significant increases in heat. It also has an impact on the supply of food and food s…

The National Waste Collection Permit Office, which the Deputy will know is hosted by Offaly County Council, is the designated nominated authority for the processing and review of all waste collection permits issued within the State. The Department is, of course, in regular contact with the NWCPO. This contact includes meetings, fora and steering committees to discuss topics including but not limited to the operation of the waste collection market in Ireland, the collection of the waste recovery levy, and the implem…

I am familiar with the practices the Deputy is talking about. There has been debate about them for some time. There is widespread concern that, in some places, there is a multiplicity of waste collection trucks moving around the same area one after another. That obviously has an impact on the environment, traffic congestion and so on. All of these matters are under review under a broader outlook in terms of the circular economy. From a Government perspective, the strategic approach is to try to reduce and minimise …

What the Deputy is clearly referring to is the need for a comprehensive policy framework in place that looks at, in the first instance, the reduction of waste through recycling, upcycling and minimisation. That is a given and we all support that. In getting to that better place we want to get to, we must still have a competitive edge or a capacity to manage the cost of waste disposal where certain waste products have to be disposed of. I am certainly prepared to ask the Department to have a further look at what tha…

There is an elasticity there.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 16, 21 and 45 together.

I will always take your direction, a Chathaoirligh Gníomhach. The Government is committed to delivering on Ireland’s responsibility to address the climate crisis and work remains ongoing across government to implement climate mitigation measures every day. We have a robust climate delivery framework and detailed plans in place across all sectors. The priority is driving implementation, particularly of high-impact measures with multiple societal and economic benefits. The EPA's latest provisional greenhouse gas emis…

Work on finalising the draft of the next update to the climate action plan is currently under way, with the climate action plan programme board providing guidance and oversight of the development of the update. Officials from Departments with responsibility for key sectors have been actively engaged in the process and are working on finalising the update to the plan. Public consultation on the plan closed last month, with more than 270 submissions received. Officials are carefully considering the views and prioriti…

I welcome the opportunity to respond and reflect on the contributions made by Members on the other side of the House. In these discussions, much has been said about military neutrality, the triple lock and Ireland's engagement with international partners. The central question before us is whether reforming the triple lock and strengthening practical security co-operation amounts to abandoning military neutrality. The Government's position is clear. It does not. I know for some it might suit them to try to confuse, …

I do not mind.

I am grateful for the opportunity to address the House on this Stage. I thank Senators Stephenson, Higgins, Cosgrove and Collins for their contributions. In fairness, having listened to them outlining the background to their amendments, I can fully understand where they are coming from. I share their concerns about the climate and take their points about the really negative impact of fossil fuels and the burning of them on our climate, and the impact that they are having domestically, across the rest of Europe and …

I thank both Senators for the amendments they are putting forward and the sentiment behind them. I will deal with the points about the emergency. The Government made it very clear that a decision was taken, based on a decision taken by the previous Government in November 2024. It looked to Gas Networks Ireland, a State entity, to bring forward a series of measures as a solution to the very real threat, albeit one we hope to never have to deal with. The then Government made very clear at that stage that this would n…

I thank the Senator very much. I think I made very clear what my understanding is and also what the Government’s position has been for some time. An emergency is when or if, and hopefully never, a significant rupture happens to one of the interconnectors and we need an emergency backup to get us through difficult times. Of course, all efforts would be taken at that stage to mitigate, insofar as we can, the demand and manage it. Certain circumstances, however, could arise where we would have no choice but to use wha…

I thank the Senator very much. This Bill is going through the planning laws and addressing the issues that arise in the construction of the jetty, what all that is about and the facility that has to be built on the shoreline to allow it, in the event of a necessity, to connect into the gas grid. That is that bit. The operation is an entirely separate issue, and that is why we will have dialogue about it, legislation on it and a discussion on it. Trying to put the two together, quite frankly, would not be the best a…

I understand clearly the Senator's position on fracked gas and I share it. I mentioned Tony McLoughlin, Eamon Scanlon and a number of others who worked on behalf of campaigns. There was a group in Fermanagh, a group in Clare, a group in Sligo and there may have been others.

Absolutely. There was quite a campaign against that. We all saw the damage hydraulic fracturing could do to certain environments and the impact it could have on groundwater. That stands, but it is a whole different ball game for us in terms of the procurement of supplies to fill a strategic reserve. That is effectively traded on international markets. We go to the markets, as the State will, through GNI to procure the gas. It is a commodity. I do not think we can start to decide who we take it from and who we do no…

The Senator's reference to the Paris Agreement was that the United States is no longer part of it. That is a decision its democratically elected Government has taken.

To be consistent, we purchase oil and gas on the commodities markets and that is the intention here. We are not going to stray from that. We need to look at the bigger picture as to what our ultimate objective is. I do not agree with the Senator's comments about a Trojan horse. Our objective is to have a safety mechanism to address any rupture to the security of supply as we transition from the use of fossil fuels to a greener economy. If I was arguing that we should now be taking fracked gas from the United States…