A Green Party memo which would outline how the €3 billion Climate and Nature Fund would be allocated was blocked by Taoiseach Simon Harris and Tánaiste Micheál Martin in advance of being brought to Cabinet.
In sign of increasing tension between the Coalition partners in the run-up to the announcement of a general election, the Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil leaders would not allow the memo to proceed for approval at the meeting of Ministers on Tuesday.
Minister for the Environment Eamon Ryan had proposed to deliver an outline plan on how the money would be earmarked for various climate action measures including new clean energy projects, retrofitting, insulating, biomethane, efficiencies, networks and infrastructure.
However, it is understood Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil took the view that the memo was “premature” and that the decision making on how the funds should be used would be a whole of Government one, rather than one made by a single department. It was suggested by the two other parties that other Government departments would have been keen to come up with proposals and that more consultation was required.
The Green Party argued, however, that it was more important for the Government to set out its stall in advance of the election.
Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform Ossian Smyth said he was “acutely disappointed” by the decision. “We’re surprised they are dragging their heels on this,” the Green Party TD said. “They didn’t want this on the Cabinet agenda even though they knew this was coming for a long time.
“Everyone knows that failing to meet our emission reduction targets will leave us open to billions of euros of EU fines so any delay could cost the State money,” he said.
The fund had been established by Fianna Fáil’s Michael McGrath, when he was minister for finance.
The Green Party plan proposed spending hundreds of millions of euro on retrofitting public sector buildings such as hospitals, schools, leisure centres and universities. It also proposed a scheme to help private companies become more energy efficient.
Other proposals included making district heating available in regions where there was significant industry. This is where waste heat from large industries could be used to heat homes and public buildings through a network of underground pipes. Other projects earmarked included biomethane projects in rural Ireland infrastructure to support offshore wind energy, and microgeneration.
Separately, Mr Ryan updated Ministers at Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting on plans for the updating of domestic legislation around the carriage of munitions of war on civil aircraft. The Department of Transport is to consult with the Department of Foreign Affairs with a view to giving the State the power to “search, sample and sanction” any flights that could potentially be carrying weapons through or over Ireland.
Meanwhile, Tánaiste Mícheál Martin received Cabinet approval for the continued provision of up to 30 permanent Defence Forces personnel as part of the EU Military Assistance Mission in support of Ukraine, until November 2026.
The mission, which began in November 2022 as part of the EU’s response to Russia’s attack on Ukraine, provides specialised training to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, with 60,000 Ukrainian soldiers trained so far.
The Defence Forces have delivered a total of 15 training modules in combat lifesaving, demining, drill instruction, basic training and junior leadership for 734 Ukrainian personnel. The costs of this training from April 2023 to date is about €1m.
