Bill recommitted in respect of amendments Nos. 1 and 2. 

Eugene Murphy, Acting Chairperson (Senator Eugene Murphy): By agreeing to the motion to recommit, the House allows a Committee Stage-style discussion on amendments Nos. 1 and 2, and amendments Nos. 7 to 9, inclusive. Members may speak more than once on each amendment, about which they are all delighted. In respect of other amendments, Senators may speak only once on Report Stage, except the proposer of an amendment, who may reply to the discussion on the amendment. Amendments Nos. 1 and 2, and amendments Nos. 7 to 9, inclusive, are related, and may be discussed together by agreement. Is that agreed? Agreed…. 

… Senator Lynn Boylan: I move amendment No. 5:

In page 6, between lines 15 and 16, to insert the following:

“Insertion of section 16A into Principal Act 

9. The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 16:

“Report on code of conduct to protect the public interest from fossil fuel lobbying 

16A. (1) Having regard to the success of the United Nations World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, the Minister shall, within six months of the passing of this Act, lay before both Houses of the Oireachtas a report on the potential benefits of developing a code of conduct for fossil fuel lobbyists. 

(2) The report may consider the following:

(a) limiting interactions between designated public officials and fossil fuel lobbyists only where strictly necessary to enable designated public officials to effectively regulate the industry and accelerate the transition to a fossil free economy;

(b) where interactions do occur, they should be requested by a designated public official, be held in a place that is open to the public, with public notice given in advance, and with detailed minutes published online;

(c) fossil fuel lobbyists should be excluded from participation in public institutions’ experts and advisory bodies (including fossil fuel lobbyists who are acting in personal capacity);

(d) designated public officials should be excluded from participation in fossil fuel undertakings’ experts and advisory bodies (including designated public officials who are in personal capacity);

(e) designated public officials should not appear at events, debates or activities, sponsored or organised by fossil fuel undertakings;

(f) fossil fuel lobbyists should be prohibited from organising events, exhibitions or other activities on government premises, including in the Houses of the Oireachtas complex;

(g) designated public officials should be prohibited from inviting fossil fuel lobbyists to events, exhibitions or other activities on government premises, including in the Leinster House complex, which are not otherwise open to the public.”.”. 

Senator Paul Gavan, I second the amendment. 

Senator Lynn Boylan: These amendments follow on from the debate we had on Committee Stage. On Committee Stage we had tried to bring in a code of conduct specific to fossil fuel lobbying, building on the style of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. I think there is a general acceptance that we are now at a situation when it comes to climate change that we do not have time with fossil fuels and we have to decarbonise our society and move away from the use of fossil fuels. We know that both the fossil fuel industry and the tobacco industry use very similar tactics in trying to sow division and doubt and in spreading misinformation and disinformation when it comes to their industries. Now they are on a policy of delay rather than denial. 

While amendment No. 4 was voted against on Committee Stage, we have introduced an amendment arising out of that debate which just seeks a report on the code of conduct from fossil fuel lobbying. We have seen quite recently in these Houses that the audiovisual room was used by a fossil fuel lobby organisation to promote the use of an LNG terminal. It spread misinformation at that meeting as well. It tried to blame climate change on population growth instead of the use of fossil fuels and stated that our focus should be on reducing the population and not on addressing the decarbonisation of our society. 

The proposal in amendment No. 5 is very modest, calling for a report on the code of conduct to protect the public interest from fossil fuel lobbying. As I said, we had a very detailed discussion about the need for it on Committee Stage, but we are now at the point where we need to treat the fossil fuel industry as we have treated the tobacco industry, whereby we can engage with them on matters of regulation or energy security but we cannot allow the fossil fuel industry to sow those seeds of doubt or to try to delay decarbonisation. 

Amendment No.6 is an alternative to amendment No. 5. It notes that: "Having regard to the success of the United Nations World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control [which Ireland is a party to] the Minister shall, within six months of the passing of this Act, lay before both Houses of the Oireachtas a report on potential measures to protect the public interest from fossil fuel lobbyists." As I said, this House has very recently seen fossil fuel lobbyists use institutions for their own benefit to try to delay the decarbonisation process. We are running out of time to reach our 2030 targets. It is a very modest proposal to call for a report into the code of conduct for the fossil fuel industry….

[For the full debate, click this link to the Oireachtas website]