A figure of €200 million is a huge amount of money. I know the Minister may say that he has no intention of pulling this money from the Climate Action Fund but the potential is there using this particular piece of legislation. That in itself is very concerning. One of the reasons I am really worried about this is because climate action always plays second fiddle to every other required or necessary spend the State makes. It always finds it really hard. It is difficult to get money for climate action and so when money has been identified and reserved for a particular purpose, it is really important that it is used for that purpose. To dip into it could essentially be the thin edge of the wedge when it comes to that particular fund. That is the reason the Social Democrats do not believe in reducing or stopping the carbon tax. It is because we recognise that setting aside money to ensure that people who are finding it difficult to make the transition to a fossil fuel-free future and need to be supported by the State will have the same opportunities when it comes to climate action as wealthier residents in the country. This fund, which is facilitated through the NORA levy for climate action, is very important and fulfils a very important function. The Climate Action Fund is not just for emission reduction measures. It is not often as an Opposition TD that one can say one influenced legislation but an amendment I put forward in the previous Dáil on the NORA legislation was to ensure that biodiversity projects for nature-based solutions could also be funded through the Climate Action Fund because I thought that was a really important aspect of it. If we are about talking about climate action and climate resilience, using nature to build that resilience is very important but, again, there are always problems finding funding for biodiversity measures or nature-based solution measures. To be able to get that done through the legislation with the assistance and support of the previous Minister, Eamon Ryan, was important. It is unfortunate that it looks like one of the very few funds that is available for biodiversity and nature-based solution measures could potentially be significantly reduced without the Minister having to come back and seek approval from the Dáil. It needs to be a democratic decision and there needs to be transparency about it and that is why we think signing this legislation as it currently stands and has been proposed by the Government gives far too much scope. This is not necessarily about the Minister. It is any Minister who could be taking that role. That is why we have serious concerns. We do not believe that this aspect of the Bill is necessary. It has not been done with the other emergency measures. We would ask the Minister to remove that aspect of the Bill and agree to our amendment and that in the event that a Government decision is made to continue a reduction in the NORA levy, it has to come back to be debated in and be a decision of the Dáil.
Sentiment score: 0.12
I do not understand the difference between the Climate Action Fund and the NORA levy that funds it and the carbon tax. It is really important that the Government has stood strong with the carbon tax and it is being very clear that it is to be ring-fenced for climate action. Only today, in the Dáil, the Taoiseach was highly critical of Sinn Féin and the fact that Sinn Féin continually asked for the carbon tax to be scrapped or reduced. Indeed, what the Taoiseach said was that it "is essential to guarantee ring-fenced funding for the retrofitting of homes, the warmer homes initiative and the retrofitting of local authority housing, all of which will help working people to permanently reduce their bills into the future." The Taoiseach described Sinn Féin as being "hypocritical" to call for a reduction in carbon tax. It is hypocritical of the Government to say that the carbon tax is fundamental to our climate ambitions and our climate action while at the same time reducing the NORA levy in a way that it could possibly be done over 18 months without bringing it back to the floor of the Dáil or without bringing it to a committee. It is a decision for the Government, through the Cabinet, that the Minister could do that and take up to €200 million out of the Climate Action Fund. I cannot square that circle. They are very similar funds, in my opinion, and it is important to protect both of them. I can understand, as a short-term two-month measure, reducing the NORA levy, but this could potentially extend it. I know the Minister says that is not his intention, that is not the point and this is a sunset clause, but the effect of this sunset clause will mean that we will not have to debate this again. The Minister will not have to report back to the Dáil and that is concerning.
Sentiment score: 0.12