Minister Ryan urged to support the granting of a money message for Climate Emergency Bill
People Before Profit TD Bríd Smith has welcomed the referral of the Climate Emergency Measures Bill to the Dáil’s Climate Action Committee after an earlier Dáil motion was accepted.
She has called on Minister Ryan to support the granting of a money message for the Bill that would allow for detailed debate at the committee on the bill’s provisions. The Bill would effectively stop all exploration for oil and gas in Ireland’s waters. The Government have pledged to support a ban on the issuing of any new licences, but Deputy Smith claimed this didn’t go far enough.
She said: “The scale of this crisis means we need to go further. This Bill, unlike the Government’s proposals, would allow as an emergency measure the banning of any oil or gas exploration or further drilling. Many of the existing licences are good till 2034 and beyond with many of these due for renewal and progression. The reality is vast sways of our oceans are still open for business for the fossil fuel industry and that has to be addressed.”
The TD highlighted the recent granting of a change to the licence for Barryroe as an example of the dangers of believing a ban on new licences was enough.