eolas Magazine issue 44 by bmf business services

Informing Ireland’s decision-makers...

Building homes and communities Respond’s Declan Dunne Environment and Climate Minister Eamon Ryan TD discusses his priorities

Assistant Secretary of the Parliamentary Services Division Elaine Gunn outlines Oireachtas pandemic mitigation

Minister Simon Harris TD reflects upon investment in research, innovation and science

issue 44 March/April 21

Infrastructure and construction • Offshore wind • Environment and climate

€4.95

Credit: Statkraft

Contents 04

Matters arising

Issues 06

10 14

Round table discussion: How can IT best support the evolving healthcare delivery model? 28 34

42 48 52

60 68 72

104

86 92 98

118 104

114

128

Article 16 analysis by QUB’s Katy Hayward and David Phinnemore Funding of the EU’s Just Transition Fund

Public affairs 110

124

Sponsored by

Interview: Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications Eamon Ryan TD Waste reduction and the circular economy The relationship between public health and the environment The European Biodiversity Strategy for 2030

Europe 104 108

110

Sponsored by

Overview: Unlocking Ireland’s offshore wind potential Offshore renewable project pipeline Marine Planning and Development Management (MPDM) Bill latest Developing education and skills to resource offshore wind

Environment and climate 76

Sponsored by

Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Michael McGrath TD on the infrastructure and post-Covid recovery Budget 2021 and capital expenditure Trends in the Infratech sphere Build 2020 statistics

Offshore wind 56

Hosted by

Interview: Fianna Fáil’s Jim O’Callaghan TD Final Report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes analysis

Infrastructure and construction 38

Interview: Gabriel Scally discusses zero Covid, north-south cooperation and vaccinations Cover story: Respond CEO Declan Dunne talks housing delivery Minister Simon Harris TD: Investing in research, innovation and science

118 124 128

Interview: Curator of the Irish Election Literature archive and podcaster Alan Kinsella Response of the Houses of the Oireachtas to the Kerins Case judgements Interview: Assistant Secretary of the Parliamentary Services Division and Clerk-Assistant of the Dáil, Elaine Gunn Political platform: Fine Gael’s Emer Higgins TD Back page: Oisín Coghlan, Director of Friends of the Earth

THURSDAY 22 & FRIDAY 23 APRIL 2021 • ONLINE

Transforming the delivery of water services

WATER IRELAND 2021 ONLINE CONFERENCE

22–23 APRIL 2021 The Water Ireland Conference 2021 will bring together all the key stakeholders of the water services sector on the island of Ireland. The delivery of water services is a critical part of our infrastructure, which has been underlined by the Covid19 pandemic. The conference will look at the key challenges facing the sector:

SPEAKERS CONFIRMED SO FAR:

• Investment in water and wastewater networks to support economic growth; • Delivering large capital projects; • The impact of climate change on water resources;

Darragh O’Brien TD

Nichola Mallon MLA

Niall Gleeson

Sara Venning

• Addressing network loss rate and reducing leakage;

Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage

Minister for Infrastructure

Managing Director Irish Water

Chief Executive Director of Networks Northern Ireland Water Utility Regulator

Neil Walker

Sinéad O’Brien

Carla Chiaretti

Professor Conor Murphy Seán Gregory

Head of Policy EurEau

Department of Geography Maynooth University

Tanya Hedley

• Innovation in wastewater services; • Making the water and wastewater networks more resilient to extreme weather events; and • Future outlook for the water services sector.

HOSTED BY

Head of Infrastructure, Network Coordinator Energy and Environment Sustainable Water Ibec Network

Research and Innovation Manager Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water

eolas Issue 44 March/April 2021

Editorial

One year on…

Owen McQuade, Managing Editor owen.mcquade@eolasmagazine.ie

One year has passed since Covid-19 arrived on these shores.

Ciarán Galway, Deputy Editor ciaran.galway@eolasmagazine.ie

Over 6,000 people across the island have now lost their lives. Meanwhile, Ireland, north and south, still lacks a coherent Covid strategy. Recent discourse around the adoption of zero Covid led a senior NPHET figure to reject such a proposal on the grounds

David Whelan david.whelan@eolasmagazine.ie Fiona McCarthy fiona.mccarthy@eolasmagazine.ie Odrán Waldron odran.waldron@eolasmagazine.ie

that Ireland is “a leaky country”. Advertising Consequently, the rapid regulatory approval of several vaccines has assumed greater significance. However, disparity in vaccine

Sam Tobin sam.tobin@eolasmagazine.ie

administration is a global challenge. Uncertainty of supply across

Design

the EU has added to the complexity of vaccination programme

Gareth Duffy, Head of Design gareth.duffy@eolasmagazine.ie

and, to date, it has been exceptionally slow in Ireland. This contrasts starkly with the UK experience which has delivered a

Paul Rooney paul.rooney@eolasmagazine.ie

rare win for the British Government.

Events

Meanwhile, in the face of this adversity, individuals and

Lynda Millar lynda.millar@eolasmagazine.ie

organisations have endeavoured to continue delivering on their distinct objectives. Our cover story interview with Respond CEO Declan Dunne highlights the approved housing body’s continued delivery of homes and communities at scale, amid the ongoing housing crisis and prevailing socioeconomic challenges.

Become a subscriber! Annual subscriptions: €15.00 + €5.00 P&P Contact: Sharon Morrison Email: subscriptions@eolasmagazine.ie Online: www.eolasmagazine.ie

In addition, this issue of eolas contains comprehensive reports on

eolas Magazine

infrastructure and construction, offshore wind, and environment

bmf Business Services

climate. This content is complemented by interviews and

Clifton House Lower Fitzwilliam Street Dublin, D02 XT91

contributions with and from Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Simon Harris TD, senior Fianna Fáil backbench TD Jim O’Callaghan, Environment

Tel: 01 661 3755 Web: www.eolasmagazine.ie Twitter: @eolasmagazine

and Climate Minister Eamon Ryan TD, and Clerk-Assistant of the Dáil Elaine Gunn, among others.

Ciarán Galway

www.eolasmagazine.ie

FSC® is an acronym for the Forest Stewardship Council®, which is an independent, non-governmental, not-for-profit organization that was established to promote the responsible management of the world’s forests. The FSC® system provides an assurance that products such as wood and paper have been harvested in a socially and environmentally responsible manner. The FSC’s Chain of Custody certification provides a way in which the material can be tracked from the certified initial source through the manufacturing process to the end user.

matters arising Donnelly named as new Climate Council Chair main energy related Directives in the EU over the past decade. Since retiring, Donnelly has held voluntary positions in social, research and representative organisations focused on Ireland’s energy transition. John FitzGerald, the outgoing Chair, will remain on the Council as an ordinary member, as will Ottmar Edenhofer, Director and Chief Economist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. Peter Thorne, Professor in Physical Geography (Climate Change) at Maynooth University and Director of the Irish Climate Analysis and Research UnitS group, joins Donnelly as a new appointee to the Council. On the appointment of Donnelly and Thorne, Minister Ryan said: “In appointing members of the new council it is important to strike the right balance in terms of the range of expertise required, the continuing smooth functioning of the council and the need for gender balance. The Council will be

Marie Donnelly, the former Director

Climate Change Advisory Council by

General of the European Commission

Minister for the Environment, Climate

with responsibility for Energy Efficiency,

and Communications Eamon Ryan TD.

Renewable Energy and Innovation, has

Donnelly, in her European Commission

members announced today will be a

been appointed as Chairperson of the

role, oversaw the implementation of the

great asset as part of this transition.”

instrumental within the context of how we transition and achieve our climate ambition. I believe that the new

Homeless death statistics to be examined Trinity College Dublin’s Jo-Hanna Ivers, an assistant professor in addiction at the Department of Public Health and Primary Care, into each of the deaths. Speaking to the Irish Examiner, O’Brien said that “we need to look at things about categorisation”.

Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien TD has

Dublin Regional Homeless Executive

commissioned research into the cause of

(DRHE) died in the city in 2020, 30 more

excessive homeless deaths in Dublin in

than the previous year.

2020.

The HSE are investigating the sharp

A total of 79 people who were either

increase but the Minister has

sleeping rough or in contact with the

commissioned separate research from

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The Minister said that while each death was a tragedy, there could be different reasons for death. Highlighting that the deaths related to those accessing homeless services and that some of the 79 people who died had their own accommodation, he said: “It wasn't people who died in the street, they died of health complications, although that doesn't make that any easier. I don't think it's down to lack of services per se.”

matters arising President Higgins details further Machnamh seminars “vital to understand the nature of the British imperialist mindset of that time if we are to understand the history of coexisting support for, active resistance to, and, for most, a resigned acceptance of British rule in Ireland”.

Following on from the first of the Machnamh 100 seminars held in December, Uachtarán na hÉireann, Michael D Higgins has announced the line-up of speakers for the second of the seminars, to be held on 25 February. The seminar will “include consideration of European Empires following the First World War, the British Empire in particular and imperial

attitudes and responses to occurrences in Ireland” and “will also include reflections on examples of resistance to Empire in Ireland and resistance to

Higgins “will focus on the relationship between culture and empire, and how British cultural hegemony at the time attempted to shape and influence general cultural values in Ireland” in his second seminar, with speakers to include John Horne of Trinity College Dublin, Marie Coleman of Queen’s University Belfast, Niamh Gallagher of St Catharine's College Cambridge, Eunan O’Halpin, also of Trinity College Dublin, and Alvin Jackson of the University of Edinburgh.

nationalism”. In an op-ed written for The Guardian, Higgins criticised the “feigned amnesia” around Irish and British history with regard to empire and argued that it was

The third of the Machnamh 100 seminars is scheduled to take place in May, and will focus on hope, class and gender in the Irish independence struggle and its historiography.

CervicalCheck: Holohan has a “huge amount of regret” apologised. Then-Taoiseach Leo Varadkar TD offered a State apology to those affected in October 2019. Vicky Phelan, whose initial legal challenge against the Government for a false negative received in 2011 exposed the malpractice, expressed disappointment at the HSE’s lack of admission of liability and said that she had never thought the State apology was sincere. Phelan accused the HSE of regression, saying: “What really annoyed me about Chief Medical Officer Tony Holohan has said that he has a “huge amount of regret” around the CervicalCheck scandal and “enormous sympathy for the women concerned”. Over 200 women received false negative results on smear tests for cervical cancer, leading to the resignations of HSE Director-General Tony O’Brien and CervicalCheck Clinical Director Gráinne Flannelly.

Holohan’s comments came after Lynsey Bennett, a 32-year-old motherof-two suffering from cervical cancer, settled a High Court action over alleged misinterpretation of cervical smears. There was settlement but no admission of liability from the HSE, a letter of regret was instead read aloud in the court. Asked if he would apologise, Holohan said that the Government had already

Lynsey’s case was we had had a case just a couple of months previously with Patricia Carrick where there had been an apology and an admission of liability by the HSE – the first time that had happened since my case… Then Lynsey’s case comes along and there is no apology, no admission of liability and this bloody letter of regret and I just thought, we are going backwards.”

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Gabriel Scally: Get it down. Keep it down. Keep it out. Having been battered by the third wave of Covid-19, public health restrictions remain in place across the island of Ireland. Visiting Professor of Public Health, University of Bristol and President of Epidemiology and Public Health section, Royal Society of Medicine, Gabriel Scally talks with Ciarán Galway about zero Covid, north-south cooperation and vaccinations.

Currently, there is a complete absence of a discernible Covid strategy on the island of Ireland, epidemiologist and public health expert Gabriel Scally argues. “Have you seen the Irish Government’s strategy? No. There is no strategy,” he states.

of community transmission for a defined period of time enables the safe reopening of society and the economy. While there would still be a potential for imported cases, these can then be swiftly brought under control to keep transmission as close to zero as possible.

In this vacuum, momentum has gathered behind proponents of a zero Covid strategy. Scally is one such advocate. The zero Covid approach, as implemented by Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, and Vietnam, seeks to effectively eliminate the SARS-CoV-2 virus within a defined geographic entity. The absence

Zero Covid

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The two missing components of any successful zero Covid strategy in Ireland are firstly, mandatory hotel quarantining for travellers arriving on the island and secondly, effective north-south cooperation.

“You cannot have this situation, which we know doesn’t work, of voluntary selfisolation combined with a lack of cooperation north and south… Government ministers in Dublin insist that it is impossible to cooperate with the North because of the DUP and we can’t have an all-island strategy. In reality, it’s a failure of the body politic, both north and south. “Meanwhile, we have now far exceeded the number of deaths from ‘the Troubles’. Don’t tell me it’s impossible for the administrations north and south to cooperate on this; that is stupid,” the

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prominent epidemiologist remarks. However, as recently as January 2021, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar TD suggested that a mandatory quarantining regime is “disproportionate” and would not work because the North would operate as a back door. Similarly, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has asserted that zero Covid is “simply not a realistic option”. Scally disagrees. “Zero Covid is only impossible if politicians want to make it impossible. What is disproportionate? What on earth does that mean? People are dying, hospitals are overwhelmed, patients are not receiving the treatment that they need for their cancer or heart disease, health service staff across the island are exhausted, children are being denied access to education, and businesses are going bankrupt,” he outlines, adding: “None of that is beyond solution.” Rather, the public health expert suggests, the alternative was within touching distance in summer 2020. “The ground was perfectly laid for a zero Covid approach. Unfortunately, politicians chose not to go in that direction, and they led us into the position that we are in now, north and south, which is extremely difficult,” he says. Now, the Government has indicated that passengers arriving in Ireland from specified countries will be required to quarantine in a hotel from late February 2021.

Exemplars While New Zealand has been a prime exemplar of zero Covid, Scally recognises that, alongside democratic values, airline route connectivity, economic performance and population density of other island nations or states with one shared boundary, opposition to zero Covid is often grounded in arguments about geographic remoteness. “Okay. Let’s leave New Zealand to one side and talk about Taiwan. Taiwan has a population of 24 million people, a population density many times greater than Britain or Ireland, some of the busiest airline routes in the world and is an economic powerhouse. It has done the job fantastically well.

“Consider Japan, with a population of over 126 million people and four primary islands, which has done similarly well. It is a democracy which has done it properly and successfully. Closer to home, the Isle of Man has implemented this without anyone noticing, as has Guernsey. Take the biggest island of them all, the continent of Australia, which has also done it,” he illustrates, adding: “[The Irish administrations] should look at the success of these other places,

“We really do appeal to all world leaders: stop using lockdown as your primary control method. Develop better systems for doing it. Work together and learn from each other.” During the same month, The Lancet published a letter titled: Scientific consensus on the Covid-19 pandemic. In the letter, signed by 80 public health experts and doctors (and subsequently signed by over 4,000 more), the rationale

“My mantra is: Get it down. Keep it down. Keep it out. You have to do those three things, as well as pursuing a vaccination programme.” understand what they did and how they did it, then copy it.”

Lockdowns While a zero Covid strategy has remained politically unobtainable in Ireland, hitherto, both jurisdictions have instead sought to suppress Covid-19 incidence rates to an ‘acceptable level’, enabling the economy to reopen between surges while awaiting vaccination rollout. Recurring lockdowns have been utilised as the primary tool to achieve this. However, lockdown itself should be a tactic, not the entire strategy. Indeed, in April 2020, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated: “So-called lockdowns can help to take the heat out of a country’s epidemic, but they cannot end it alone. Countries must now ensure they can detect, test, isolate and care for every case, and trace every contact.” Months later, speaking with The Spectator’s Andrew Neil in October 2020, David Nabarro reiterated: “We in the World Health Organization do not advocate lockdowns as a primary means of control of this virus. The only time we believe a lockdown is justified is to buy you time to re-organise, regroup, rebalance your resources, protect your health workers who are exhausted, but by and large, we’d rather not do it.

for lockdowns is acknowledged as being about slowing the spread of the virus and ensuring that health systems are not overwhelmed. It identifies Japan, Vietnam and New Zealand as having demonstrated that “robust public health responses can control transmission, allowing life to return to near-normal”. Noting that lockdowns have been both socially and economically disruptive, the letter asserts that “these effects have often been worse in countries that were not able to use the time during and after lockdown to establish effective pandemic control systems”. In the absence of an adequate strategy to mitigate this disruption, many countries, including Ireland, have faced ongoing restrictions, demoralisation and diminishing trust. This, Scally argues, is what creates a vacuum which is then filled by individualism and undermines social solidarity. “If there is a growth or prospering in individualism, it’s because of the bankruptcy of leadership. When people lose trust, lose confidence, and don’t see where we are going in the absence of a discernible strategy, that’s what creates the space for individualism,” he adds.

North-south cooperation Having consistently advised that the island of Ireland be treated as one

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can point to the people and say, ‘you’re the people that went to restaurants and had house parties’ or whatever. It’s called victim blaming. “Each time things go wrong; they point at a few people who aren’t doing the right thing and choose them as scapegoats. It’s a much easier place to be because you don’t have to take responsibility for anything. Nobody ever said it would be easy to do leadership, but if you don’t do leadership, you see the consequences.”

Leadership Referencing polling data which suggests that people would take strident public health measures, support, and observe them, Scally admits that he has limited sympathy for politicians, even in the context of intense industry lobbying.

“Zero Covid is only impossible if politicians want to make it impossible.” epidemiological unit, Scally initially welcomed the memorandum of understanding (MOU) on public health cooperation on an all-Ireland basis cosigned by Chief Medical Officer Tony Holohan and the North’s Chief Medical Officer Michael McBride. Now, however, he is scathing of what he regards as “a meaningless document”. “The language remains great and the sentiment is excellent, but I don’t think anyone could point to anything that it has influenced for the better... There is no use in having this wonderful tool if no one is prepared to pick it up and use it,” he asserts. The public health expert elaborates on his assertion that Ireland is exhibiting a deficiency in political leadership. “I think [the governments] know what should be done but think it would be too difficult to do so and are afraid that they will fail. Whereas if they don’t bother trying, they 8

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“Who’s on the pro-health side here? Who’s paying anyone to go lobbying the departments of health, north or south, to do the right thing on public health? No one is paying for that. It is only health professionals and citizens saying it,” he insists. Identifying Taoiseach Micheál Martin as one of his “public health heroes” due to his legacy as a former Minister for Health who introduced tougher restrictions on environmental tobacco smoke, Scally has been particularly disappointed that he has “not taken a stronger leadership position”. “Micheál Martin did that in the face of enormous lobbying from the tobacco industry and huge opposition from the hospitality industry. He saw it through and was justly recognised by the World Health Organization. I really still hope that he will rediscover the pioneering spirit he had as a health minister and translate it into a pioneering spirit as Taoiseach because he could really drive these things forward,” he suggests.

Vaccination programme Now in the initial phase of its vaccination programme, Ireland, limited by supply, is slowly rolling out the vaccine to priority cohorts. It is not necessarily a panacea. Scally is cautiously optimistic, though warns against an “overoptimism”. The epidemiologist’s most significant concern is that emerging variants of the SARSCoV-2 virus will be less amendable to

prevention by the vaccine. “We have to undertake additional measures. For instance, preferably stopping new variants coming in until we have a handle on it. That means border controls. We also need to vaccinate as many citizens as we can, while having the local public health teams staffed up and ready to jump on any outbreaks or flareups that occur. “I am very worried about this period that there will be overoptimism about the vaccine; that we’ll take the foot off the brake, witness an acceleration of cases and we won’t know what the consequences are until that happens. It’s not a nice scenario. My mantra is: Get it down. Keep it down. Keep it out. You have to do those three things, as well as pursuing a vaccination programme.” Likewise, achieving sufficient vaccination of the population is a challenge. “This virus is so infectious that you really need almost everyone to be vaccinated in order to avoid really serious outbreaks. Sufficient supply of vaccines will take time and it is difficult to run a vaccination programme. “I know that, having done it, getting to 60 or 70 per cent is easy. Getting to 80 per cent is tough. Getting over 90 per cent is really tough, particularly if you have a lot of people who are making use of it for their own strange ideas, notions or publicity seeking vaccine scepticism. It is a perfect time for people who wish to disrupt,” he emphasises.

Looking ahead What policy choices are the decision makers now faced with? “Crunch time again. Lots of people, including many politicians, now admit that we should have gone for zero Covid last summer. There is another opportunity in the making right now. The circumstances are different, with vaccines and variants, posing opportunity and threat. But there is a groundswell of public support for getting rid of the virus, keeping it out, and getting back to something like normal. “I have no doubt that the effort should be made, and we should do it thoroughly and determinedly. We can beat this virus, save lives and livelihoods, and show exactly what Ireland is capable of,” Scally concludes.

Credit: Merrion Street.

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Donnelly: An ignominious start to 2021 A slower than promised vaccine rollout, a lack of north/south health cooperation almost a year since Covid-19 reached Ireland and a barrage of bad publicity surrounding communication etiquette: 2021 has not started well for Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly TD. The Minister for Health began the year by proclaiming in the Dáil that the Government planned to have 700,000 people vaccinated against Covid-19 by the end of March. At the time, 13 January 2021, Donnelly said that the figures were “highly provisional” and that they were reliant on the availability of the vaccines. “We are further planning to be able to vaccinate more than 1.5 million people in quarter two and more again in quarter three,” the Minister for Health said at the time. Just over two weeks later, Donnelly was forced to admit in the Dáil that the 700,000 target was unlikely to be met. Donnelly told the Dáil that his target had been “heavily caveated” and conditional upon supply of vaccines from AstraZeneca. In response to a question from Sinn Féin spokesperson for health David Cullinane TD, Donnelly stated that Ireland had been due to receive 600,000 doses from AstraZeneca but that the company was no longer committing to that figure. Donnelly came under cross-party scrunity, with Cullinane stating that his speech was “completely unsatisfactory” as it gave no new timeline for vaccinations. Social

Democrats joint leader Róisín Shortall TD accused Donnelly of “over promising” on vaccine targets. Donnelly also stumbled when asked by Labour leader Alan Kelly TD about the amount of vaccines that had come into the country that week; Donnelly replied with 48,000 but HSE figures showed the correct number to be just over half that, 24,750. Vaccination numbers are just one aspect of the fight against Covid-19 that has seen the Minister come under pressure. Donnelly came under sustained public scrutiny and criticism after it was revealed that he had responded to Chief Medical Officer Tony Holohan, who had texted Donnelly to correct a statement the Minister made on radio that Dublin’s R rate was slowing when it was in fact increasing, with a thumbs-up emoji. Donnelly later said that both he and Holohan were “bemused” by the negative reaction to the revelation. More disruptive has been a complete lack of cross-border cooperation on pandemicfighting tactics, which has seen both Donnelly and his counterpart in the Northern Ireland Executive, Robin Swann MLA, come under significant pressure. The same report that revealed the emoji-

only text also reported that Holohan had warned Donnelly about “weak” border controls and that Swann had written to Donnelly in November requesting cooperation to combat a new strain; this offer was not taken up. With just under 105,900 people having received both doses of the vaccine and over 187,000 having got their first dose as of mid-February, it is clear that vaccine rollout has been much slower than Donnelly hoped. Pressure is now also coming from businesses as Institute of Directors in Ireland polling shows the slow vaccine rollout to be the perceived biggest threat to business at the moment. Donnelly has made further figure-related mistiakes, saying 70,000 jabs would be administered over a two-week period in February when the real figure was 57,000, and has been on the receiving end of conduct-related criticism following a terse exchange with Leas-Cheann Chomhairle Catherine Connolly. Quite a significant recovery will be required for the Wicklow TD’s ministerial debut to be given the ‘thumbs up’ by the public any time soon.

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cover story

Operating at scale: Building homes and communities Despite what was a difficult year for the economy and society, Respond delivered 681 social housing units in 2020 and at the close of the year had 1,324 homes in construction. Ciarán Galway engages with Respond CEO Declan Dunne to discuss delivery, diverse expertise and developing thriving communities.

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Respond housing association and service provider has a dual strategy of “building homes, improving lives”. As one of Ireland’s largest approved housing bodies (AHBs), Respond is unique in providing a wide range of services alongside its housing construction and housing management. These include Daycare for Older People Services, Early Childhood Care and Education Services, Family Homeless Services, Family Support, and Refugee Resettlement Services. “Our first priority is to add to the national housing stock,” CEO Declan Dunne asserts, adding: “In 2020 alone, Respond increased the number of social housing units we own or manage by 681. Of those, 109 are homes we manage for iCare Housing.” Since its foundation Respond has built over 6,500 properties which includes social housing, affordable housing for local authorities, community buildings and group homes. Approximately 11,313 tenants live in 5,497 homes that Respond either owns or manages nationally. Prior to Christmas 2020, the approved housing body had 1,324 homes in construction. These represent homes that Respond has commissioned rather than acquired from developers under Part V of the Planning and Development Act, Dunne remarks: “These are not insignificant numbers.”

“We operate at scale to deliver homes for people who need them. We have real construction expertise in our professionals while also having the financial expertise and resources to fix the price and deliver the houses.”

Lockdown As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and the latest public health restrictions, construction ceased in January 2021, with some exceptions. Expressing support for the lockdown measures and the prioritisation of life and health, the Respond CEO outlines the figures for his organisation’s exempted ‘essential’ social housing projects. “As of January 2021, there are 459 homes that we can continue to build for families and individuals who urgently need them. There may be more added to that figure once they meet the required criteria. “One criterion for opening these sites is that they need to be delivered by the end of February 2021. We had to urgently review our ongoing projects to see what

could be delivered by that deadline. We were surprised and delighted; if we delivered 681 units in 2020, it’s a great achievement that we’ll have 459 completed in the first two months of 2021.” However, another Respond project of 153 homes on the Long Mile Road in Walkinstown has now been halted. Likewise, at the approved housing body’s site at Charlestown in Dublin, a project comprising three apartment blocks totalling 138 units will also be impacted. Only two of the three blocks have been designated as essential, meaning that 94 of the 138 units will be completed by the end of February. Similarly, a pathfinder project for

affordable cost-rental homes on Enniskerry Road in Stepaside, Dublin 18 did not qualify for essential status although it incorporates 50 cost rental homes, alongside 105 social homes. “This project is well on the way to being delivered this year as per the plan,” says Dunne. Presently, the Covid-19 pandemic is the most significant obstacle to the delivery of high-quality homes at scale. “We have scheduled completion dates for October, November and December 2021. If we were to lose two or three months now, early in 2021, how many projects will then not be completed until 2022? “A typical construction cycle, depending on the scale of the development is at

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nearby amenities and how much will it cost? There are many lessons which will emerge from the pandemic and the biggest issue will probably be mental health and wellbeing and how to support people in their homes and communities” Dunne observes. Consequently, over the last year, Respond has invested in evidencebased services, partnering with two organisations which, according to the Respond CEO, “will help us to qualitatively change what we’re doing”.

Respond’s development of 55 homes at Northwood Avenue, Ballymun Cross, Santry, Dublin.

least two years. The biggest concern, therefore, is that if we do not start construction on sites on where groundwork has already commenced, the 2022 or even the 2023 figures may be impacted.”

Internal expertise While 2020 was a challenging time, it was also a successful year for Respond as the organisation sought to enhance its diverse internal expertise. “Firstly, Respond operates at scale,” Dunne emphasises, elaborating: “For example, setting our target for 2019 to 2023, the board initially said, ‘focus on 2,500 homes or 500 per annum.’ Then, last year, the board agreed ‘this should be increased to 3,500 homes or 700 homes per annum.’ We have now added an extra 1,000 and our current pipeline totals €1.25 billion. We will meet that target.” “Secondly, we have the construction expertise to operate at scale. For instance, we have 22 staff in our design team. This team is led by its Head of Development Parag Joglekar, a very senior architect, and we have recently recruited a senior Deputy Head of Development, who was a chartered surveyor and a qualified barrister, to work alongside him. There are 20 other architects, quantity surveyors and

cover story

planners in that team. We couldn’t do what we do well without those professional skills.” Simultaneously, Respond has utilised its financial expertise to develop a model whereby the approved housing body buys a site, agrees a fixed price for the homes, and makes staged payments as the project progresses. This cuts the cost of construction and guarantees delivery, while saving the costly interest during the construction phase. “Our financial arrangements save us up to €30,000 on every house. Likewise, it ensures the homes will be completed and delivered to Respond tenants rather than sold on completion to others who may be willing to pay a higher price,” Dunne explains. “We operate at scale and we have real construction expertise in our professionals while also having the financial expertise and resources to fix the price and deliver the houses.”

The first of these innovative partnerships is with the Centre for Effective Services (CES). “Respond is going through a 13month programme of ensuring that its services are evidence-based. It is about knowing that when we take a particular set of steps in a particular order and on a consistent basis, we will get a particular result. We’re opening ourselves up to national and international evidence,” he outlines. The second partnership is with the Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI) based in Trinity College Dublin. “Many people will be familiar with neuroscientist Professor Ian Robertson who is the codirector there. We are very fortunate to be partnering on a pilot brain health training programme for some of our staff. The programme will enhance awareness and understanding of the importance of brain health and how all stakeholders together can best cultivate their own brain health and that of the larger community. “In addition, we will also be co-hosting a series of joint seminars this year with GBHI which will be online and available to others. We’re sharing the learning with other people in the housing sector, not just in Ireland, but internationally and we are very excited about it,” the Respond CEO notes.

Respond’s overarching vision is that “every family and individual in Ireland will have high-quality housing as part of a vibrant and caring community”. This means considering the concept of community from a tenant’s perspective.

In addition, Respond is building 101 apartments on its Gracepark Road site and, in a first for Ireland, is contracting the GBHI’s fellows and specialist architects to add their expertise to the design team, ensuring that both the internal and external environments of the new homes will be conducive to brain health principles.

“Will there be playgrounds, open spaces,

“Similarly we are also interested in

Thriving communities

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exploring the redesign of our Daycare for Older People Services, implementing universal design principles. The new universal design is about cognitive limitations rather than physical limitations. So, we are planning on redesigning the interiors of our three older care services,” he adds.

Affordable rental For many years, Respond has advocated for a sustainable and replicable model to deliver affordable rental homes. Indeed, a key goal of Respond’s strategic plan is affordable housing for people who do not qualify for social housing while simultaneously are unable to access a mortgage. Naturally, the approved housing body has welcomed the Cost Rental Equity Loan (CERL), as committed to in the Programme for Government and latterly in Budget 2021. “This is a positive development, and it does have the potential to transform our housing delivery in Ireland. What’s transformative about the current affordable rental scheme is that the State has put aside €35 million to provide for 30 per cent of the cost of these homes. The Housing Finance Agency, which does much of our financing, is also making available €100 million. This money could fund 350 more homes, alongside the 50 homes at Enniskerry Road. “There is only one aim: reducing the rent for people who are paying too much in the private rental sector. So, stretching the financing out with very low interest rates over a longer period and then having this secondary State loan is a significant development. You’re talking about rents that are 30 per cent below market rate which is pretty good,” Dunne says.

“Ultimately our goal is to build homes and support thriving communities where people want to live throughout their lifecycle.” scheme and potentially lead to increased allocations in budgets 2022 and 2023.

“This is where our housing team, led by Head of Housing, Neil Bolton, steps in and facilitates that through engagement

Vision

with tenants themselves. We apply that

Looking to the future, the Respond CEO moves the discussion back towards community development. At its core, Respond is preoccupied with its tenants’ lived experience. “We have cracked the housebuilding bit and we’re absolutely flying now; we’re going to meet our 3,500 homes target, there’s no doubt about that,” he says, adding: “Now, the question is: what more can we do to ensure that these are thriving communities in which tenants are heard and supported?”

balance between care and boundaries in

Respond is cognisant of a change in the social housing model towards more apartments and bigger clusters. Largerscale developments offer new challenges for both tenants and management to ensure that they are desirable places to live.

Before Christmas 2020, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage announced a ‘call for proposals’ and Respond submitted three schemes. Subsequently, the AHB has been selected for participation in the CERL scheme.

“We want to allow people to thrive, but we are also mindful of our obligations under the Residential Tenancies Act. Therefore, we must be proactive in preemptively securing tenant participation and consensus on what makes a good community,” he says.

While conceding that 350 homes is not a large number, the Respond CEO suggests that the initial allocation of €35 million will help prove the concept of the

This necessitates a balance between care and boundaries. Respond has a programme for engagement with its tenants which defines responsibilities.

our services to co-create this programme with our tenants, rather than simply dictating the rules. We ask, ‘this is going to be your community; how do you want it to do things?’ “Most people in social housing are doing fine; they are paying their rent regularly and don’t require much support aside from maintenance of their homes. However, every so often, there are individuals or families who are struggling because of physical and mental health, relationship breakdown and employment concerns. With so many staff in services, Respond is uniquely placed as an organisation to go the extra mile, to understand the challenge in the first instance. With diverse expertise across Respond’s structures, our architects, engineers and estate managers are able to learn from our social care workers and vice versa.” Overall, reflecting on Respond’s dual housing delivery and community development priorities, Dunne concludes: “Ultimately our goal is to build homes and support thriving communities where people want to live throughout their lifecycle.”

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Minister Simon Harris TD: Investing in research, innovation and science Credit: Merrion Street

Twelve months ago, the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science was merely a concept. Today the department, with the longest title in government, is now a reality. The establishment of this department could not be timelier, or more important. Minister Simon Harris TD writes. It is a clichéd phrase, but this has been a year like no other. It has tested us all in different ways and no one is unaffected. However, even if the horrific Covid-19 crisis is one no one would ever wish for, it is one we shouldn’t waste. The dynamism and resilience demonstrated by people, businesses, families are lessons we must not unlearn. Society and the world of work has changed rapidly, and this department has an important role in equipping us to manage this change. Under the remit of this department is our third level sector or further and higher education and training. It is our job to ensure people are equipped with the skills that they need to progress in the way that they want to, and in a way that meets the needs of our evolving economy and contributes to an inclusive society. It also our job to ensure everyone has a pathway to education regardless of their income, gender or geography. We now know life-long learning is essential for all in an increasingly digital and automated world and that must embrace all the

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different lives we lead. It is our role to ensure your circumstances do not affect your course in life. But we also have responsibility for research, innovation and science. It is becoming increasingly clear that the battle for the future of our economy no longer lies in the location of our factories, or warehouses. How we develop the talent of our people will determine if we can punch above our numbers and prosper at home and internationally. The exciting thing as a Minister, as a new department, is the privileged opportunity we have been given to shape that future. We have a unique opportunity to ensure that research is not in silos and give it greater coherence on the national stage. We will start that conversation with people this month when we start a nationwide, national campaign with people on research and science. We aren’t starting from scratch. Ireland has managed to build a significant reputation for research excellence over the past 30 years, and we are currently ranked the ninth most innovative nation in the EU.

We spent over €4 billion on research and science in 2019 and yet it can seem it is a million miles away from us or our daily lives. So, for the next year, we want to talk to you about research and science and what you want us to spend your money on. This is a once-in-a-generation chance. Covid has raised so many challenges but people are now alive to science and research, to finding a vaccine or treatment for Covid19, bringing science into the public eye in a way that it hasn’t been before. We will face further pandemics and we will face existential crises such as climate change, digitalisation, and public health. Research, innovation and science will be fundamental to addressing those economic and social challenges and investment in research, innovation and science is no longer an option but a must do. In Budget 2021, we have signalled our intent in this area and the upcoming National Economic Plan and the National Development Plan will further show government’s commitment.

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But first, we must have a plan and my department is working on a new national research and innovation strategy with the research and science community, government colleagues and higher education and enterprise groups. We are also working on a new International Strategy for Higher Education, Research and Science to ensure Ireland is at the centre of this worldwide conversation. We need a balanced portfolio of research:

this area. In the past few weeks, we have announced an increase in the stipend for Irish Research Council early career researchers.

providing direction on strategy, funding

The enhanced funding of €3.2 million to the Council will better support postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers in Ireland across all disciplines, and directly benefits close to 1,300 early-career researchers across our higher education and research system.

particular SMEs.

and structural reform for the research and innovation ecosystem and regional and national linkage with enterprise, in

An island of talent, unleashing the contribution of Higher Education and FET to human capital and lifelong learning. An international island, promoting Ireland as a leader in Higher Education and

•

from early-stage researchers to the globally renowned;

•

embracing all disciplines and, increasingly important, at the interface between disciplines;

•

from investigator-generated research topics to mission-driven investment in areas of strategic national importance; based upon deep partnerships with enterprise, including in contributing to vibrant innovation systems at regionally and nationally level that embrace SMEs; and

The Irish Research Council’s postgraduate stipend will increase from €16,000 to €18,500 per annum and funding for its postdoctoral researchers is also increasing. We have also announced a €193 million investment in research centres across the country.

Research. And an island of inclusion and engagement, driving equity of educational outcomes, social cohesion and the contribution of our education and research institutions to tackling the great

We have a lot more to do but these are important first steps. Investment in research and innovation is vital to creating new companies, growing new technologies, to securing, diversifying and growing foreign direct investment.

public policy and societal challenges of

My vision is to see us become an ‘innovation island’, with my department

sustainable economy and a better

our day. My department will continue to drive this important agenda, keeping innovation at centre stage to drive a strong, society.

also contributing to the public good and our major societal challenges.

I hope we have shown our intention in

“It is becoming increasingly clear that the battle for the future of our economy no longer lies in the location of our factories, or warehouses. How we develop the talent of our people will determine if we can punch above our numbers and prosper at home and internationally.” Credit: Merrion Street

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The future of cross-border EU funding the area, captured the priorities and views of government departments in Ireland and Northern Ireland, along with statutory agencies, business representatives, NGOs, universities, research institutes and the community/voluntary sector, to understand their views and priorities for the future of cross-border funding. The SEUPB is currently engaged in a statutory public consultation on the draft content of the new Programme before its final approval by the European Commission, the Irish Government, and the Northern Ireland Executive. PEACE PLUS will have a very significant budget, totalling approximately €1 billion, and is designed to support activities that contribute to peace and prosperity within Northern Ireland, the six border counties (Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Louth, Monaghan, and Sligo), and can also include partners from across these two Islands. Gina McIntyre, Chief Executive of the SEUPB.

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The Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB) is a north south implementation body set up under the Good Friday Agreement with statutory responsibility for managing the EU cross-border funding programmes, PEACE and INTERREG. For over 20 years, these cross-border programmes have provided over €3.3 billion worth of funding to tens of thousands of different projects and initiatives which have supported the ongoing peace process and helped enhance cross-border co-operation. Reporting to the North South Ministerial Council, the SEUPB is sponsored by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in Ireland and the Department of Finance in Northern Ireland and also reports to the European Commission. It has the statutory responsibility for the development and implementation of the new cross-border EU funding programme

called PEACE PLUS from 2021–2027. PEACE PLUS will build on the excellent work of the previous PEACE and INTERREG Programmes, supporting similar, but also new and exciting projects and activities. It has been designed following a comprehensive cross-border stakeholder engagement process, which commenced in 2019 with discussions with government departments, and involved 16 public consultation events in 2020. These events were attended by over 1,000 people with over 300 additional surveys submitted. This engagement process, alongside a comprehensive socio-economic study of

Outlining the key ethos of the proposed new Programme, Gina McIntyre, Chief Executive of the SEUPB said: “PEACE PLUS will help to address many of the long-standing social and economic challenges which have, and continue to, impact on communities, particularly those in rural border areas as well as ongoing challenges that exist in urban settings. “It will support actions designed to embed peace, while also recognising the devastating impact of Covid-19 on the economy and indeed society, and the changed landscape, opportunities and challenges, associated with the UK exit from the EU. I am extremely grateful to all of the people who have already shared their views with us, and who have contributed to help us develop the Programme’s content,” she continued. Six key themes have been developed for PEACE PLUS, which will also contribute to the European Green Deal and support the larger green recovery process, on both sides of the border. These themes have been created following a detailed socio-economic profile of the region and each one has its own unique set of investment areas.

Theme 1: Building peaceful and thriving communities is designed to empower local community partnerships, through the delivery of co-designed local community PEACE Action Plans with Councils across Northern Ireland and the border counties of Ireland. It will help to build positive relations where cultural diversity is celebrated and also reimagine communities through the provision of new shared spaces and services. Theme 2: Delivering economic development and transition will enhance the growth and competitiveness of SMEs in order to help create new jobs in a post-Brexit landscape. It can support R&I development in key growth sectors, address key skills gaps and also invest in a Smart Towns and Villages Development Programme. Theme 3: Empowering and investing in our young people can support shared education and potential integrated education activities, develop vulnerable young people (aged 14–24) as well as create a youth mental health and wellbeing initiative to improve understanding of mental health issues and enhance emotional resilience. Theme 4: Healthy and inclusive communities would build upon and create new cross-border approaches to improve health and social care for citizens. It can support rural regeneration and social inclusion measures and will also develop the capacity for services that meet the needs and demands of victims and survivors of the conflict. Theme 5: Supporting a sustainable future is designed to help protect habitats and priority species, our shared marine and cross-border coastal environment, as well as improve water quality in Lough Erne, Lough Melvin, and Donegal Bay. It will also invest in a geothermal energy demonstration project and cross-border rail infrastructure improvements.

“The programme area for PEACE PLUS includes Northern Ireland and the border counties of Ireland, however it can also support what is termed ‘functional areas’. This allows for organisations and institutions not based in the core programme area to get involved in

projects, by linking with partners within the core programme area. “There are many fantastic examples of these partnerships in the current PEACE and INTERREG Programmes, and we wish to ensure that organisations based outside of the programme area, but which can naturally link with organisations within the area and deliver services, are aware of this opportunity and begin to prepare in advance of funding calls opening towards the end of the year, and in 2022,” she continued. An example of such a project, which is currently underway, involves three leading universities and institutes, namely Dublin City University, University College Dublin, and the Dundalk Institute of Technology, who are key partners in the delivery of the highly innovative and worthwhile Eastern Corridor Medical Engineering (ECME) project. This is an €8.1 million EU INTERREG VA-funded initiative that has created a new crossborder centre of excellence within the highly specialised field of cardiovascular medicine. It is helping to transform current heart disease care by undertaking ‘big data’ research into people suffering from a range of cardiovascular conditions, as well as the development of smart wearable monitoring technology and

enhanced diagnostic equipment. In response to Covid-19, this project also made special grant awards available to some creative ‘mini-projects’, that were involved in the production of PPE and better diagnostics to help in the fight against the pandemic. A number of charities have also been able to create new working partnerships with other organisations through involvement in the PEACE IV Programme. This includes the Changing Lives Initiative, led by Dublin-based charity Archways. The community-focused project is also working with various partners in Northern Ireland and Scotland on a specialist intervention programme for families with children experiencing ADHD.

These are just two examples of the types of cross-border work which is being supported at the moment. For more information on the SEUPB and the new PEACE PLUS Programme, please go to www.seupb.eu/PEACEPLUS

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Theme 6: Building and embedding partnership and collaboration will focus on enabling joint development and management strategies that can identify solutions to reduce obstacles to greater cross-border cooperation at all levels.

The ECME project works within the highly specialised field of cardiovascular medicine.

Credit: Fianna Fáil

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Housing for All Speaking at Ireland’s Housing Conference 2021, Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien TD outlines some of the of the key aims of the Housing for All plan set to be published this summer, with the aim of delivering 33,000 homes per annum. Determining that the population of the Republic is set to increase to around six million people by 2040, Minister O’Brien says that ambitions to meet the housing supply needs of the future have been hindered by an absence of housing stock growth in line with population increases. In 2014, new home completions dwindled to as low as 14,000 and the Minister acknowledges that a serious challenge exists to catch up with demand and increase supply. In 2020, the Department of Housing, Local Heritage and Government commissioned a report by the ESRI to build on the work of the National Planning Framework. The Minister sets out that, following the recommendations, the Government now aims to build 33,000 homes per year. However, he reiterates the scale of that challenge by highlighting estimated figures of some 20,000 completed homes in 2020, already 5,000 units short of the pre-Covid target. O’Brien says that a core element of his Department’s move to increase housing

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supply is the prioritisation of its own build programme for social housing. Budget 2021 provided an “unprecedented level” for housing delivery of €3.3 billion and included a target of just under 13,000 homes (9,500 new builds) and expands on the Programme for Government (PfG) commitment to a 50,000 increase in housing stock over the Government’s lifetime.

However, the Minister understands that even if local authorities and approved housing bodies (AHBs) are to deliver the targeted 10,000 homes annually, a significant gap will still need to be bridged by the wider sector, as a whole. The requirement for policy direction in this regard is the basis for his plans to publish Housing for All this summer.

The Minister says that he is eager to ramp up delivery and hopes, in the near future, to complete a circuit of local authority meetings where he has emphasised the “real need to get shovels on the ground” and talked through each of the new targets of local authorities.

Setting out his reasoning for the plan, O’Brien says: “It will build on our commitments in the Programme for Government and provide a roadmap as to how we get a housing system that gives us the sustainable supply that we need, at a price that people can afford, with appropriate housing options for the most vulnerable in our society.”

Pointing to a 25 per cent reduction in local authority waiting lists since 2016, the Minister says he expects further reductions to have been recorded in 2020, despite the impact of the pandemic, adding: “I am committed to driving this number down further through increased supply of social housing nationwide.”

The Minister asserts that to make a lasting and coherent impact, the strategy must take into account not only the requirement to deliver over 30,000 homes but also a range of complex and interrelated areas such as homelessness, affordability, planning and rent reform, O’Brien says that progress is not waiting

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on the plan’s publication and that reform is already underway. He points to the increase of autonomy for local authorities through the introduction of a single stage approval process for capital expenditure on social housing construction projects up to €6 million and the current development of a standard internal swelling layout manual, intended to assist in meeting the Department’s target floor areas, as examples of progress. Adding: “We’ll also provide and introduce regulatory reforms through the introduction of e-planning processes and by placing the construction industry register on a statutory footing as we develop and promote a culture of competence, good practice and compliance with planning regulations within the construction sector.”

Affordable ownership The Minister outlines affordable home ownership as an “absolute priority” and states his desire to put home ownership back at the centre of housing policy. Budget 2021 saw the Government commit to €620 million specifically focused on affordability measures. “A system, where a working couple cannot afford to purchase a house and have the certainty that when they grow older, they can enjoy the comforts of their own home and, if they wish, pass it on to children, is a system that is failing the key test,” he states. O’Brien indicates that the spike in the average age of people buying their own home from 26 in 1991 to 35 in 2021 is a reflection of the difficulties facing young people, which he describes as a “demographic financial timebomb”, when considering that households who have not been able to purchase their own home will need financial support upon retirement. The Minister goes further and points to the decline in Irish home ownership to levels below the EU average as a “threat” to shared prosperity. “Building a system that gives each citizen a clear stake in its prosperity must be a priority for Irish politics in the coming years. The struggle to boost homeownership levels is a core part of

“The struggle to boost homeownership levels is a core part of that effort to ensure politics delivers for ordinary working people.” that effort to ensure politics delivers for ordinary working people. This Government is committed to ensuring affordable, quality housing solutions are available to everyone in Irish society and this is reflected very clearly in the Programme for Government,” he says. In January 2021, the Minister published heads of the Affordable Housing Bill 2020, which provides for the introduction of three new schemes to deliver on the PfG commitment. Outlining these three schemes, the Minister says that local authorities will deliver affordable homes for purchase on their lands for the first time in more than a decade and a new Affordable Purchase Shared Equity scheme. This scheme intends that the State provides equity support to help those seeking to purchase in the private market but unable to secure a full mortgage and the introduction of a new form of housing tenure in cost rental. However, this has been criticised by senior officials in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER) and opposition politicians as being a demand-led measure which is likely to increase house prices without delivering additional supply. The new legislation will also provide the basis for the first 400 cost-rental homes in the State to be delivered in 2021. In addition, in February, the Minister published the Land Development Agency Bill 2021, which seeks to establish the agency on a statutory basis and sets out the core goals of the agency to undertake strategic land assembly and fully utilise state lands to build affordable homes and sustainable communities. On the rental sector, the Minister points

to a range of Covid-19 measures introduced, protections which he says are designed to better balance the legal rights of landlords and tenants. Outlining his intention to keep these under constant review, he also describes ongoing work of considering “balance measures” which might be necessary as rent increase restrictions, in the form of rent pressure zones, are in place only to the end of 2021. “I am looking at how we can have a more sustainable and secure private rental system,” he explains.

Homelessness In the last 12 months, the number of individuals experiencing homelessness has fallen by almost 2,000 and there has been a nearly 40 per cent reduction in the number of families accessing emergency accommodation. The Minister accepts that while this trend is a positive one, much work remains to address the problem. He adds that provisions in Budget 2021 support the PfG ambition to increase the focus on preventing homelessness as well as ensuring pathways out of homelessness for individuals and families. “We need to work tirelessly every day to ensure that we are driving down homeless numbers by putting people in to permanent housing solutions. That’s why the increase in social housing supply is so important, as is tenancy supports and the provision of affordable homes,” he explains. Concluding, the Minister states his confidence that the Government is implementing the right measures to tackle the challenges of supply, affordability and homelessness and to bring forward the necessary legislative changes required to do so.

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Health research: making an impact Placing people at the heart of health research

A year since Covid-19 first appeared on our radar, the importance of health research is in sharper focus than ever before. From first identifying the novel coronavirus to devising new approaches to care and developing vaccines in record time, the health research community has helped fight this unprecedented crisis every step of the way, according to Dr Mairéad O’Driscoll, Chief

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Executive of the Health Research Board (HRB). The pandemic has also shown that while our healthcare system may depend on the state of our economy, the reverse is also true: without a well-functioning health and research system, economies can quickly grind to a halt. Simply put, the well-being of our society depends on the quality of our health research system. This is the message placed front and centre by the HRB in its new fiveyear strategy, Health research – making an impact. Building on the HRB’s strong track record in areas such as clinical research,

information systems, evidence generation and research governance, the 2025 strategy will contribute to Government efforts to enhance Ireland’s health research system, supporting delivery of health priorities under Sláintecare and the Resilience and Recovery 2020–2021 Plan. Developed through extensive engagement with stakeholders and input from an International Expert Advisory Panel, the HRB’s roadmap for the future focuses on delivering better health through research, data and evidence.

As the lead funding agency for health research in Ireland, the HRB invests around €50 million annually in the Irish health research system, while its evidence centre provides independent data to inform decisions of policymakers, practitioners and the public. Reflecting the organisation’s unique position at the interface of the health, social care and academic systems, the HRB’s 2025 strategy aims to unlock the potential of health research to deliver for Ireland’s society and economy in a changing world. “Our goal is to deliver the research, data and evidence that can make a real difference to people’s lives,” explains HRB Chief Executive Dr O’Driscoll: “We want to place people at the heart of everything we do, involving the public, patients and carers in research, from generation of ideas to delivery of results. People’s insights and life experience can transform research approaches, improving outcomes and improving lives.”

Translating research into real-world value First and foremost, the strategy will support research that makes a difference by delivering value for health, the health and social care system, and society and the economy as a whole. “We aim to achieve a well-balanced funding portfolio that responds to realworld needs,” remarks Dr O’Driscoll. “This means investing in research to inform the decisions of people working in the Irish health and social care system, while supporting high-quality investigator-led research to address future health challenges.” Collaboration will be key to making this happen, and meaningful involvement of people working at the coalface, along with public and patients can help ensure HRB-funded research is relevant, can be

applied in practice and contributes to better outcomes on the ground.

Building trust in evidence and data The challenges posed by healthcare disinformation have put questions of trust centre stage in recent years, as Dr O’Driscoll explains: “Not only do policymakers and health professionals need reliable and credible data to inform their decisions; each of us as individuals need evidence we can trust to inform management of our own health.” This is why the HRB will continue to be an independent voice providing highquality evidence in support of policy, practice and evaluation. In tandem, the organisation will support evidence synthesis activities to build capacity, address knowledge gaps and inform guidelines. It will facilitate dialogue on the emerging scientific, technological and policy developments that matter for health, health research and the health system, from genomics, to biobanking, to public health modelling.

Getting the framework right To maximise the real-world impact of health research, it will be essential to have the right framework in place at home and abroad. The HRB aims to build a thriving research environment here in Ireland and foster productive international partnerships in Europe and beyond. Actions focused on the Irish research environment range from

everything we do, involving the public, patients and carers in research, from generation of ideas to delivery of results. People’s insights and life experience can transform research approaches, improving outcomes and improving lives.”

investing in research leadership and capacity building, to supporting development of a coordinated clinical trials infrastructure, and convening stakeholders around the design of shared research infrastructures in areas like biobanking and genomic research. This will be underpinned by action to ensure research is conducted to the highest standards. Looking beyond our borders, many of the greatest health and societal challenges we face, from pandemics to climate change, are global, making international collaboration a must. Plus, expanding horizons opens up new possibilities for Irish researchers, as Dr O’Driscoll explains: “It’s no secret that for smaller countries like Ireland, international partnerships allow us to achieve things we simply couldn’t do alone by providing access to larger-scale resources and wider expertise.” The HRB aims to maximise those opportunities by forging alliances with European and international partners and helping Ireland’s research community compete for EU and international funding.

commitment to organisational excellence will be crucial: a core aim is to develop the HRB as a progressive place to work, that supports its people to be innovative and responsive. And what will success mean for the Irish health research landscape in five years’ time? “Our vision for 2025 is to see the research we fund delivering measurable societal value, supporting economic development in a post-pandemic environment, and enabling the transformation of Ireland’s health and social care system,” concludes Dr O’Driscoll. “Our independent data and evidence will provide targeted support to policy and practice, and we will have helped the Irish research system unlock the potential of data for health and social care. Plus, Ireland will be recognised as the location of choice to do health research, embedded in a strong network of international collaboration.”

For more information on the HRB’s Strategy 2021-2025, please contact Gillian Markey, Communications

A vision for Irish health research in 2025 In order to deliver on this ambitious strategy between now and 2025, a

Manager. E: gmarkey@hrb.ie W: www.hrb.ie

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Trust is also key when it comes to the use of data in health and social care. Yet as Dr O’Driscoll points out: “With robust governance structures in place, data has the potential to transform how healthcare is delivered and how we manage our own health.” The HRB has already demonstrated real strength in this area, leading development of national research data standards, working with partners to facilitate access to the national Covid-19 data research hub and managing national health information systems in the areas of alcohol and drug use, disabilities, and mental health. Over the next five years, the organisation will build on this commitment to trusted data. In addition to supporting the development of infrastructure for optimal use of health and social care data for research, the HRB will strive to increase public understanding of the importance of facilitating secure access to health and social care data for research and policy, and encourage adoption of best practice in data management, governance and re-use.

“We want to place people at the heart of

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How can IT best support the evolving healthcare delivery model? HP Inc. Ireland hosted a virtual round table discussion with experts from across the health sector, applying their experience and insight to examine how IT can best support the evolving healthcare delivery model. What are the key drivers of innovation in healthcare delivery? Gemma Garvan Every aspect of peoples’ lives is becoming more digital and the associated expectations of patients and clinicians is a big driver for changes to healthcare delivery models. Additionally, policy is providing us with a framework to deliver healthcare in the most appropriate setting, including in the community. To enable that, we need the evidence that the quality of outcomes for patients are equivalent in these other care settings. Data is vitally important in this regard.

Round table discussion hosted by

Loretto Grogan Technology has permeated every aspect of our lives, but it hasn’t really reached into healthcare like it should have. There is a public expectation of being able to digitally interface with healthcare and so, patient expectation is a key driver and I think we will see patient expectation driving the change agenda more in the next number of years. Raphael Jaffrezic The key drivers of innovation are the same as those driving better healthcare delivery, that’s why we are doing them. We need to be able to improve on the efficiency of clinical workflow using technology because the health system is being overwhelmed. Innovation should be aimed at reducing the stress on the system and the staff. In the past year, we’ve shifted to a world where everyone is looking at data and graphs on a daily basis and we’re seeing population health management on a larger scale than we have previously. The importance of data and particularly clean data, at national and international level, is evident. Paul McKinney

Innovation is patient driven. The Irish

Blood Transfusion Service needs to become more innovative and we need to look at our organisational culture. The average age of our donors is significantly growing and now sits at around 45 years of age. We need more young donors and to do that we need to get into the spaces where they are and deliver our marketing message into those areas. Finance is also a large driver of innovation. We are expensive in terms of the cost of a unit of blood compared to some other European countries, so we are obliged to try and drive that cost down through innovation. Finally, benchmarking is an innovation driver. We’re part of the European Blood Alliance and there are several exemplars of innovative ideas in other blood services around Europe which we can learn from. David Wall The change of healthcare delivery models, such as the moving of services back into the community or off campus is driving innovation because we’re forced to find different ways to deliver our care. We’ve also witnessed an increased appetite from staff to be more innovative and enhance their own or the hospital’s service delivery. In response, we’ve created structures for ideas to come

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forward and utilised the existing structures and supports around public sector innovation. Additionally, we now have a generation that have grown up in the digital world. Ireland possesses one of the best technology start-up sectors in the world and we’re seeing innovations coming forward as a result of people’s personal interactions with the system.

Adoption of innovative technology in a healthcare setting not only supports staff retention but helps to meet the increase in service demand. Necessity drives staff innovative practice to get better outcomes with limited resources. HP’s healthcare solutions are focused in three areas: prevention; personalisation of diagnostics and treatment; and low-cost access to healthcare. These are based on two pillars: the decentralisation of diagnostic tools for capturing health status; and processing data into personalised, readily accessible and actionable health care information in the clinical sphere, on-site data gathering and processing for immediate insights into planning better patient outcomes.

round table discussion

Neil Dover was appointed Country Manager for HP Ireland in August 2019. A graduate from DCU in Computer Applications. He has over a decade experience in various management roles across the HP business in Ireland. Neil is passionate about HP brand innovations and the strong re-invention spirit, which support customers ambitions delivering premium value, and tangible world class solutions. Neil is an active member of Ibec, Chambers Ireland and a professional member of the Irish Computer Society.

Neil Dover

Gemma Garvan Gemma Garvan was appointed as the Director of Health Informatics for St James’s Hospital in 2018. Gemma qualified from Trinity College Dublin with an undergraduate degree in computer science and software engineering and a master’s degree, alongside a leadership certificate from Cranfield Universities Business School. She has over two decades of experience in health informatics and holds various advisory roles at national and European health informatics forums. Prior to taking up her current role, Gemma had a national role as the Director for Access to Information in the HSE with a remit that included devising a National Integration Strategy to support the Electronic Health Record Programme for Ireland.

Loretto Grogan Loretto Grogan is the National Clinical Information Officer for Nursing and Midwifery in the Health Service Executive. Loretto started her career as a registered general nurse in Beaumont Hospital and since then has completed further studies in information systems, statistics, health economics, project management, health innovation and has an MSc in health informatics. Loretto has worked in a variety of clinical, management, research, and project management roles both within and outside of the health service. She is a professional member of the Irish Computer Society.

To what extent has Covid-19 accelerated this evolution? Raphael Jaffrezic

The pandemic has driven the need to share data more openly and safely. We have many success stories of collaboration between the public and the private sectors in beginning to share data very rapidly. Within weeks of Covid, we had to adopt electronic platforms for patient data on a large-scale and in a safe way. The pandemic has also required us to look at healthcare in alternative ways. Remote health is something that was possible beforehand, but it was more targeted at people living in isolated geographic areas without access to healthcare facilities. Now it is a daily occurrence for almost everyone. Clinicians, physicians, and organisations had to deliver this within a relatively short period of time. Just before the pandemic hit, we were working on a policy for remote working up to two days per week. We were about to make this policy live when Covid hit and we needed 100 people working offsite, immediately.

Raphael Jaffrezic Raphael Jaffrezic is the Chief Information Officer of the Galway Clinic, a private hospital in the west of Ireland. He holds a master’s in IT engineering and business management. Raphael has been involved in healthcare transformation throughout his whole career, starting from a technical role as an IT engineer then progressing to an executive position. The Galway Clinic was the first hospital in Ireland and the UK to reach HIMSS (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society) Stage 6. He is also a black belt in Lean Six Sigma.

Paul McKinney Paul McKinney is Operations Director for the Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS). Paul is responsible for the collection and processing of blood and blood components as well as donor recruitment and retention for the Republic of Ireland. He is Chairperson of the European Blood Alliance (EBA) business contingency working group and a member of the EBA bench marking group. Paul has held senior executive management and board positions in the private, public, and social enterprise sectors and holds a degree in computer science and business administration from Queen’s University Belfast and a master’s in business administration from Durham University.

David Wall David Wall was appointed Chief Information Officer for Tallaght University Hospital in July 2015. David’s role is focused on transforming ICT into a more valued business partner by improving the capability of the ICT organisation, aligning ICT activities with hospital priorities, and leveraging digital more effectively to deliver eHealth solutions to improve and support patient care. In addition, David has responsibility for information governance, healthcare records and telephony. David holds a diploma in strategy, innovation and change from the Smurfit Business School, an MSc in health services management and a BA in business information management. Prior to his current role, David held senior ICT positions in the Children’s Health Ireland, Temple Street Children’s Hospital and St Vincent’s University Hospital.

Gemma Garvan Healthcare moves at such a pace that people don’t have time to really examine the processes and the need to change how we are delivering that care. However, Covid forced us to re-evaluate that. One of the most significant changes to emerge from the pandemic is the rapid review of

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“Given the speed of change, cyber security is now a bigger challenge than ever before and healthcare faces a challenge to remain vigilant against attacks, which can be extremely costly.” Neil Dover, Country Manager, HP Ireland how care is delivered. Due to the nature of the pandemic, we couldn’t not treat patients, yet the increased risk of having large numbers of people attending as outpatients wasn’t practical anymore. We adopted and enhanced the remote consultation process. Once forced to adopt and utilise the technology, the benefits became apparent. Covid also forced a change in behaviour and instilled in practitioners a confidence to deliver outpatient consultations remotely. The alternative was that waiting lists would grow longer and people would have to wait longer for treatment. Simultaneously, the emergency scenario heralded a reduction of the regulatory and procurement bureaucracy required to introduce new technologies and implement change. The enhanced availability of funding also helped accelerate some of those changes. Paul McKinney From the perspective of IBTS, due to the public health restrictions, we had to change our business model literally overnight. We introduced an appointment system for all our mobile clinics. It was a change we had aspired to for five years. With the onset of the pandemic, it was introduced in under two weeks. Had we

not been successful in changing this process, we would have struggled to provide the volumes of blood required by the hospitals. Now that the appointment system is implemented, there will be no return to the status quo. Our donors want appointments to stay and will accept nothing less. Likewise, prior to the pandemic, our business model was not conducive to remote working. It has now pivoted entirely, and we have been able to adapt with a very high percentage of our staff working remotely. Loretto Grogan We have witnessed colleagues adopting technologies that we could not have envisaged one year ago. There has been no other option, people have had to adapt and respond to patient need. This fostered collective thinking, planning and decision making, which have made a huge difference. The pandemic has also been useful in highlighting some of the unsustainable challenges that face anyone working in digital health. For instance, Covid has highlighted that we have gaps in our syntactic and semantic interoperability. It has highlighted inequalities in connectivity and access to networks. It has highlighted challenges in digital capabilities among our colleagues.

It has highlighted that our national business processes are protracted, particularly for digital. We now know exactly what these challenges are and can start addressing them, freeing up space for innovation. David Wall I want to expand on the collective momentum prompted by Covid. Having that singular focus across every government department, among staff and across patients to tackle the pandemic, enabled quicker decision making, the release of funds and enhanced resources. It was a key enabler for removing obstacles that previously existed around time, funding, and resources, facilitating the delivery of solutions in a timely manner. If we could maintain that singularity all the time, beyond this one pandemic, we could make serious inroads in terms of digital health in Ireland. Neil Dover The Covid-19 pandemic has upended everything, from the global economy to how we live, work, and connect with one another. We are looking at times like these as a catalyst for change, both in terms of the technology HP creates for its customers, as well as the impact it makes

“PCs, software, etcetera are just tools to complete a specific goal. What we want is to implement clinical solutions that have a tangible impact on improving clinical outcomes.” Raphael Jaffrezic, CIO, Galway Clinic 24

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“We are in a very reactive scenario with Covid, but if we are moving to a more proactive health service, we need data at a national level to inform decision making.” Loretto Grogan, National CIO for Nursing and Midwifery, HSE for its communities. We have seen an acceleration on the digital transformation of e-health over the past year. From telemedicine to shortages of PPE, the medical field is relying on new and emerging technologies such as 3D printing for prosthetics, and microfluidics to combat the pandemic. HP’s sanitisable portfolio is well recognised in the healthcare space, and demand has spiked through the pandemic with trends suggesting that this interest will be sustained in the long-term. Meanwhile, I don’t think that the evolution of the workforce is complete. Different ways of working and training will continue to evolve and immersive technologies, IoT and cloud computing will increasingly influence how we interact in the workplace on a day-to-day basis, particularly in a healthcare environment.

What are the most significant challenges in implementing new IT solutions to support healthcare delivery? Loretto Grogan A massive challenge is around interoperability and the sharing of information. From a semantic point of view, it is about data of a standardised meaning and from a syntactic perspective, it is about the exchange of that standardised data. Sláintecare is our national health policy and integrated care is a huge component of that but currently we have real challenges integrating information or ensuring the right information follows the patient. Implementation of the Individual Healthcare Identifier [IHI] will assist with this, but more broadly, we need to improve our basic infrastructure. A further challenge is around digital capabilities and ensuring that we have a workforce

that is proficient and competent in digital health. Gemma Garvan Funding allocation is a major challenge. Typically, our IT spend goes through a capital model of funding, but technology has moved on and a lot of the offerings are revenue-based/revenue recurring. If we implement solutions, we can’t then take them away and so we must have the ability to continue funding them. We need to address how that funding stream is allocated to technology at a national level and move away from once-off capital funding to future-proof these services and enable more efficient digital health delivery. Another challenge is the aligning of national and group objectives with local and immediate need. The delivery of a technology solution for the immediate need versus the current process of change is still something that we’re constantly challenged with from a hospital perspective and I assume across all levels of healthcare. David Wall The sustainability of solutions is the challenge. Many of the solutions that we’ve introduced in response to Covid will be retained and in fact, people want more of them. However, some of the solutions introduced in the short-term will need to be supported on a long-term footing. This also feeds into the long-term digital maturity of different healthcare organisations. We’re all at different levels of digital maturity and further investment is needed to bring organisations up to the required levels if they are to fully exploit the digital solutions. Finally, I’d point to a talent challenge. Covid-19 has changed the marketplace substantially and it is becoming increasingly difficult to hire staff and retain them because of other opportunities in the public and private

sector. We are examining our talent acquisition and recognising the challenge ahead in acquiring ICT talent. Paul McKinney I foresee a backlog challenge. A lot of innovation has occurred as a result of Covid-19 but there have also been planned projects that were postponed. There is going to be a significant demand for those projects and an associated challenge of prioritisation. A further challenge, and potential opportunity, is system data integration and the efficiencies that can come from that being done properly. Access to hospital blood usage and planned elective surgeries information would dramatically improve our demand forecasting and service planning. Neil Dover Given the speed of change, cyber security is now a bigger challenge than ever before and healthcare faces a challenge to remain vigilant against attacks, which can be extremely costly. The three most common vulnerabilities we have identified are end user authentication deficiencies, endpoint leakage and excessive user permissions. In HP, we have been working hard to ensure that we have the most secure range of healthcare PCs and printers in the world. In tandem with that we have the most sustainable PC portfolio in the industry, which can benefit healthcare organisations in reducing their energy consumption.

How can data support better decision making? Raphael Jaffrezic Data is demonstrably supporting physicians in decision making and I think it has been there for decades. I don’t 4 25

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“The main focus for us nationally should be to ensure that we adopt standards that are agreed and adhered to so that we can collectively use data effectively.” Gemma Garvan, Director of Health Informatics, St James’s Hospital think that is something that is new. For instance, clinical decision support systems are designed to provide safe and effective drug management, ensuring that no patient can be prescribed a drug that would interact negatively with one of the drugs that have already been administered. Fortunately, those are solutions that we have had within our organisation for over half a decade. That is an example at a local level, but with Covid we are seeing population health management and healthcare delivery on a large-scale with data being at the forefront. The development of new technologies, such as AI, will further enable better decision making. Paul McKinney Blood and platelets have a relatively short lifespan of 35 and seven days respectively. A real challenge for the IBTS, therefore, is how to forecast demand and to do so we need more data. Currently, the forecasts we make are not made using live data, rather we look back on previous usage. Instead, we would like to understand what volume of blood and blood components hospitals will require next week or next month. For instance, if we could access elective operations planning then we could better plan our clinics staff allocation and the blood groups we need to collect. We are making

plans to improve our decision making and aspire to receive and send more information to and from hospitals relating to real time demand for and use of blood. Gemma Garvan Healthcare is all about evidence-based decision making. That’s what clinicians are trained to do. If we are going to support changes to the healthcare delivery model and implement Sláintecare, we need the data to provide evidence, which informs this shift. The data must indicate that the clinical outcomes of a change of care setting are equivalent or improved, so that we can move away from the expensive secondary care delivery model to modern healthcare delivery. The main focus for us nationally should be to ensure that we adopt standards that are agreed and adhered to so that we can collectively use the data effectively. In St James’s Hospital, we have been very lucky in terms of Covid management. We have our Electronic Patient Record and have had that real time data available to us to drive some of the decision making around Covid. Loretto Grogan We are in a very reactive scenario with Covid, but if we are moving to a more proactive health service, we need data at a national level to inform decision making

by us, by clinicians and by patients. There is a significant opportunity to develop data that enables patients to manage their own healthcare better. Having that quality data is vital. Ireland has a good track record in research and good infrastructure through the Health Research Board and other entities. However, our research is still very siloed, and we don’t have a mechanism for taking in big datasets. Meanwhile, from a national perspective, it is essential that we start to examine workforce planning for digital health. We need to develop skillsets in terms of analytics and managing digital health infrastructure. David Wall There are a lot of information silos in the Irish healthcare sector. We still have a lot of disparate and separate systems. Even when patients are transferred or referred for treatment, they don’t necessarily come with all the required information or that information isn’t necessarily shared. We must get better at sharing data. Obviously, that is underpinned by better standards and better interoperability. It doesn’t necessarily mean rolling out national systems either, it just means agreeing a set of standards that everyone must comply with in order to facilitate data exchange. It’s also about having people better trained to interpret the data

“Many of the solutions that we’ve introduced in response to Covid will be retained and in fact, people want more of them.” David Wall, CIO, Tallaght University Hospital 26

“From the perspective of IBTS, due to the public health restrictions, we had to change our business model literally overnight.” round table discussion

Paul McKinney, Operations Director, Irish Blood Transfusion Service trends in healthcare organisations. We want to have data which facilitates targeted treatment on an individual basis. Neil Dover Access to data in real-time enables informed decisions to put patient experience and outcomes at the forefront of every clinical decision and critical care scenarios. The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the need for data analytics at healthcare facilities, the ability to track real-time information on available hospital bed, PPE, and ICU capacity can help health leaders make more informed decisions. HP has the technology to support patient decisions powered by HP Z portfolio technology which is helping to analyse data closer to the edge. Innovation that may not be as familiar is our solutions around bespoke apps whereby we can collect data at a multifunction printer. This removes an obstacle and facilitates the collection of good quality data, enabling a degree of analytics conducive to a more targeted healthcare model.

What are the IT solutions that you are most excited about? Neil Dover I would have to call out 3D printing and the specific use cases in healthcare that have changed patient lives and healthcare worker safety. HP 3D printing solutions including prosthetics, PPE and surgical equipment have benefitted more than one million patients, and that is something we are very proud of. Other areas that are transformative specifically for healthcare are virtual reality and other immersive technologies. These technologies are already being applied in numerous ways

such as surgical planning, medical education and patient virtual assessments. HP have deployed these technologies across many healthcare facilities and are evolving to become an everyday use case for the healthcare industry to improve patient outcomes. Gemma Garvan Internet of things and artificial intelligence are being more widely utilised in healthcare and they stand out as the areas where we are going to see the most exciting developments in transforming our healthcare delivery models. We have a good example at St James’s Hospital where, within our sleep therapy clinic, we are deploying wearable devices to reduce long waiting lists for this service, facilitating care for patients in a more appropriate setting and ultimately, improving the patient experience. I think we are going to see an awful lot more of this technology being applied to deliver on the Sláintecare model. Loretto Grogan Cloud computing and AI are the solutions that excite me the most. Although, I also think a focus on people is a large part of IT solution innovation. I work every day with innovative people across the country. It is an exciting space, but we need to create the space for that innovation to happen. Raphael Jaffrezic The most exciting thing for me is the IT solutions that best deliver better patient outcomes. What is required of clinical informatics is the delivery of clinical solutions. PCs, software, etcetera are just tools to complete a specific goal. What we want is to implement clinical solutions

that have a tangible impact on improving clinical outcomes. Paul McKinney As the sole supplier of a product to the hospitals, we would love to be more digitally integrated with hospitals. It is exciting because I see this happening sooner rather than later. Other IT solutions we are delivering are in the space of communicating with our donors. It is quite clear that the appointment system we installed in response to Covid is not going to change and so we are planning to build on this with an online system to meet changing expectations. We are also excited about the potential of robotics, which is already happening in Europe, particularly in the area of manufacturing and process blood and blood components. David Wall There is no longer such a thing as an ICT project, they are all clinical transformation projects and that is where the future is. Personal assistants are an area we see big opportunity. There are various examples throughout the world where Google Home and Amazon Echo are being used to tell patients the waiting time in their local emergency departments, or to deliver personalised content and help with recuperation. Robotics also offers a huge opportunity. Many hospitals are already deploying robotic surgery but there are other areas to exploit such as blood sampling, goods transportation within hospitals and robotic pharmacies. The focus of our projects to take tasks away from staff to release their time to care for our patients.

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Jim O’Callaghan TD: Nothing is inevitable in politics Jim O’Callaghan TD is a multifaceted character: a former Leinster and Connacht rugby player, practising senior counsel and Fianna Fáil luminary. Ciarán Galway engages with the senior backbench figure to discuss government, identity, and ambition. 28

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“Politics, like life,” Jim O’Callaghan asserts, “is not black and white.” The Deputy for Dublin Bay South joined Fianna Fáil in 2003. Nationally, the party was riding high after the 2002 general election securing over 40 per cent of the vote and acquiring 81 seats in the Dáil. Three seats short of an overall majority, it was the closest the State had been to a single-party government since the Haughey-led administration in 1987. Fast forward less than nine years and Fianna Fáil was on its knees, having secured just 17 per cent of the vote and only 20 seats in the 2011 general election. Two years previously, during the 2009 local elections, the writing was already on the wall for the Republican Party. Having lost 135 seats, it was reduced to the second largest party nationally and the third largest in Dublin. Swimming against the tide, however, O’Callaghan was elected to represent Pembroke-Rathmines on Dublin City Council. An experienced barrister, it was the senior counsel’s first successful foray into electoral politics, having previously failed in his attempt to gain election in the 2007 general election. O’Callaghan was a member of the City Council until his election to Dáil Éireann in 2016 when he regained a seat for Fianna Fáil in Dublin Bay South (formerly Dublin South East). “City council politics, to a large extent, is probably less fake than national politics,” he says, adding: “I learned that there was a high-calibre of person involved in electoral politics in Ireland and on [Dublin] City Council. It is an effective place; the staff there are very good, and it is a hard job to make it operate effectively. I was impressed with it.” Unlike some party colleagues, O’Callaghan’s ascension to the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party was not predetermined by family lineage. Neither his mother, a teacher, nor his father, a civil servant, ever had any active involvement in party politics. It was, however, a household which assigned importance to history and in which politics was subsequently analysed. Alongside his sporting prowess, as evidenced by his rugby career, O’Callaghan was instilled with an interest in both. Reflecting on the legacy of his party’s previous domination of electoral politics

Jim O'Callaghan on the campaign trail with SDLP leader Colum Eastwood prior to the 2020 general election.

“There were only six cabinet seats available including the Taoiseach, so it was a difficult task that had to take into account geography, gender and other issues. So, listen, I don’t regard it as a snub, no.” in Ireland between 1932 and 2011, and particularly its last stint in government, O’Callaghan indicates that his membership of Fianna Fáil was based on a broad view of the political landscape.

take a broad view of a party in the same way as you take a broad view of a politician,” he says.

“I am not a purist and I believe that if you want to achieve political change in a society, that you should really go for political parties that are national parties, that you believe represent the best general direction that the country can take. I don’t claim that Fianna Fáil is pure of original sin. Like every other party, it is not. Sometimes in politics, you have to

The long march back from 2011 was arduous for the Soldiers of Destiny who had come to regard themselves as the ‘natural party of government’ in Ireland. Now, the pursuit of government office has required it to commit to the once unthinkable: a grand coalition with its oldest opponent, Fine Gael.

Back in government

Regardless of the context, O’Callaghan is

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an extension to the deal, he was conspicuously absent from the renegotiation of the arrangement in 2018 and latterly from pre-government formation talks in 2020. Previously, a confidant of Micheál Martin, O’Callaghan is now removed from the inner cadre.

Leadership

pleased that Fianna Fáil is back in power. “The objective for any political party should be to get into government because you want to implement your manifesto. We had a long road from 2011 when we had a disastrous election defeat. We had a good election in 2016 when we went up to 24 per cent and 44 seats. Obviously the 2020 election was a disappointment for us, but the purpose was to try to get into government so that we could give effect to Fianna Fáil policies. Fianna Fáil is now in government and we have a Fianna Fáil Taoiseach. So, yeah, I’m pleased with that.” Upon re-entering government, party leader and Taoiseach Micheál Martin TD offered O’Callaghan, hitherto the party’s justice spokesperson, a role as Minister of State at the Department of Justice. The offer of a junior minister portfolio was swiftly rejected. While the offer has plausibly been interpreted as a snub to the ambitious TD, it is an assertion that he himself rejects. “There were only six cabinet seats available including the Taoiseach, so it was a difficult task that had to take into account geography, gender and other issues. So, listen, I don’t regard it as a snub, no,” he insists. However, O’Callaghan candidly concedes: “I would have accepted any position in the cabinet.”

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Asked whether he truly believes he can exert greater influence from the backbenches, he responds: “Yeah, I do actually. I was offered a junior ministry in the Department of Justice. Had I accepted that position, I’d be sitting in an office in St Stephen’s Green, working on government business but being a fairly junior figure in the Government. Whereas, at present, I’m a senior backbench TD in Fianna Fáil. “It’s important that while the Fianna Fáil TDs who are in government are very busy with the job of state, that there are people within the Fianna Fáil party who are still giving voice to what the party’s about and what we can achieve into the future.” Now, however, one repercussion of his decision to reject the junior role will be a distinct lack of ministerial experience which his party colleagues are currently acquiring. O’Callaghan’s trajectory within Fianna Fáil is intriguing. The party’s electoral collapse in 2011 proved personally advantageous when he received a frontbench promotion and was appointed legal adviser, preceding his elevation to the Dáil. Following the 2016 general election, the esteem in which the first-time TD was held by the Fianna Fáil leadership became apparent when he led his party’s negotiators in the confidence and supply talks with Fine Gael counterparts. However, having subsequently opposed

In the last year, across 22 polls, Fianna Fáil has consistently polled below its performance in the February 2020 general election (22.2 per cent), averaging 15.6 per cent. Conversely, O’Callaghan rejects the suggestion that Martin’s leadership and the health and wellbeing of the Fianna Fáil party are irreconcilable as well as the assertion that he has attempted to outmanoeuvre the leadership. “No, they’re not mutually exclusive. I’m not trying to outmanoeuvre Micheál Martin and I believe the health and wellbeing of Fianna Fáil is compatible with his success as the leader,” he argues. On his ambitions to lead the party, O’Callaghan outlines that there is no vacancy and that he does not know when one will arise. However, he qualifies this by adding: “I’m interested in [leadership] at some stage in the future, as is every member of the parliamentary party. I’m not going to rule myself out to make it easier for an interview.” While he suggests that he is not in touch with the grassroots to the same extent as party colleague and TD for Galway West Éamon Ó Cuív, O’Callaghan has a solid understanding of the party from his time as justice spokesperson, having spoken at local meetings throughout the country, and through his local government connections. “I’m aware of and in touch with elected representatives in the party but it’s a very broad party,” he states.

Pandemic Up until late 2020, O’Callaghan had been an outspoken critic of the scope of public health restrictions in response to Covid-19 and their unintended consequences, suggesting that the Government should avoid censure for not “slavishly follow public health advice”. In pursuing this thesis, the Fianna Fáil backbench TD found common ground with Tánaiste Leo Varadkar TD, contrasting

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starkly with the Taoiseach’s more cautious approach towards reopening the economy. Acknowledging the current context, including the dramatic surge in cases following Christmas 2020, O’Callaghan contends: “The only coherent strategy from where we are today is to get the population vaccinated as quickly as possible and to try to have some level of restrictions that we can live with until that is achieved.” While emphasising that he does not “profess to have all the solutions” and that he remains “openminded”, he argues: “It’s going to be extremely hard, I would have thought, to achieve the objectives of zero Covid… My own concern is that we could spend a huge amount of time trying to achieve it and then inevitably, because of the land border, because we’re not an island in the South Pacific, we’re in North East Atlantic, it would come back quite quickly.” Simultaneously, the TD for Dublin Bay South has consistently articulated his concern about the impact that public health restrictions are having on children and young people. “This isn’t a binary choice; I’m conscious that there’s no easy solution. We can’t have no restrictions. At the same time, we know the danger and damage being caused by the pandemic: the denial of education; youth unemployment is extremely high; and young people’s lives have been put on hold. “It’s a difficult balance but I think our priority has to be trying to get the numbers down and the top priority should be to get children back to school… We need to recognise that we have to balance the damage that is being done to children’s public health.” Previously, O’Callaghan had warned against “a political system that blindly follows everything NPHET says”. Now, more diplomatically, he indicates: “I don’t have a problem with NPHET in terms of the role it fulfils. But NPHET recognises itself, and as do others, that it is not its function to make decisions on other aspects of Irish life; it’s there to provide public health advice. That advice has to be listened to very carefully.”

“People suggest that there is an inevitability that Fianna Fáil is going to decline and at the next election we’ll be squeezed by Fine Gael and Sinn Féin. Nothing is inevitable in politics.” Irish unity Diverging from his party’s current leadership, O’Callaghan has also embraced Fianna Fáil’s traditional constitutional republicanism. “I always thought that partition was a terrible development because it divided Irish people on grounds of religion. There were divisions within Irish society, but really, as we saw with the Good Friday Agreement, those divisions can be overcome through discussion and politics,” he affirms. Defining his vision for Irish unity, he very simply illustrates a scenario whereby all traditions on the island live inclusively under one system of governance. “I suspect there will be a border poll at some stage in the next 10 years,” he maintains, adding: “There will be, and I say this as an advocate for reunification, a very strong pro-union argument and the status quo is sometimes the easier argument to make. People who want to achieve reunification need to come up with creative proposals as to how a unified island and country would be an attractive option for people voting on that border poll.”

Identity O’Callaghan clearly and consistently defines Fianna Fáil as a centre-left national party that seeks to: “reunify the country; build public housing as well as private housing; support the vulnerable in

society through a strong social protection mechanism and law; promote enterprise and business to benefit people who engage in hard work; protect our culture, heritage and language; and save the environment”. Rather than worry about losing this identity in government, the backbench TD argues that his party should “reemphasise” it. “All governments in the future are going to be coalition governments; the days of one-party rule are not going to come back, certainly for quite a while in my assessment. I think people sometimes worry too much that a party’s identity is going to be lost because the party is in government with other parties. That is not necessarily the case. “It is an unusual time politically. People suggest that there is an inevitability that Fianna Fáil is going to decline and at the next election we’ll be squeezed by Fine Gael and Sinn Féin. Nothing is inevitable in politics,” he says. Outlining his ambition, the senior backbench TD aspires for Fianna Fáil to have more self-belief and self-confidence in what it stands for. “We live in a very competitive political environment. Let other parties put forward their proposals, get on with their suggestions and we should just concentrate on what we believe should be the way forward for the Irish people because we have done a good job of it since we got into government in 1932,” he concludes.

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Cyber security education and social responsibility “A millionaire has left you €1,000,000!”; “You won the lottery!”; “You have been selected for a dream holiday trip!”, etc and the Covid-19 period even brought a few of its own variants, as people remain vulnerable to psychological manipulation and social engineering.

Cybercrime: Ruthless and efficient

What are the key trends within this sector, from password security to the need for security education at all institutions: schools, businesses, governments? Urban Schrott, IT Security and Cybercrime Analyst at ESET Ireland explores the Advertorial

answers to this question. There is an online scam that has dwelt amongst us for over 25 years now. Millions upon millions of online users have encountered it, but despite many being able to recognise it, the reality is that there are still people who are deceived by it. For some it’s down to naivety and ignorance; for others simple curiosity. In the end, they all end up as victims. In case it’s not clear what I’m referring to, it is the infamous ‘Nigerian scam’ or

‘419 scam’, that has only gained strength with the advance of technology and, over time, has spawned many variants which eventually migrated to email. Scams that offer something for nothing but turn out to require some form of advance payment, in return for empty promises of a reward, are often referred to as advance fee fraud. After so many years, we still see messages on social networks and websites with the same type of ploy:

Modern cybercriminals come armed not only with different types of malicious software and social engineering techniques, but also with ‘business plans’ for extortion and extracting some sort of payment from their victims. Cybercriminals are becoming increasingly ruthless, to the point that even industries such as healthcare are being attacked. For a decade now, we’ve also talked about the growing trend of malware in mobile devices, we are seeing increases in cyber espionage, targeted attacks and privacy threats, IoT devices have been falling victim to attacks and the number of annual victims of ransomware continues to rise. All these types of threats, which have developed over time, have one thing in common: the point of entry is often the user. Attackers continue to entice victims with deceptive emails and messages on social media, encouraging naïve and, in many cases, irresponsible behaviour. We have reached the point at which we need to stop talking about security risks in generic terms. It is critical that users, whether corporate or individual, are aware of the types of attacks that can affect them. From email fraud to information theft, all threats must be taken seriously, and it is important to take the necessary measures both in terms of technology and raising awareness, to be able to avoid them.

The importance of awareness At ESET we firmly believe that security is not only a matter of technological solutions, but we also need to help each other when it comes to protection. Most computer users still do not have sufficient training on this topic and while many recognise the threats to their computers, they do not have the same awareness when it comes to their mobile devices and their IoT devices. We see threats continue to spread to all types of devices that are connected to the internet, and that handle sensitive data. It is vital to be aware of security at all times from personal devices with a WiFi connection, to critical infrastructure. Technology’s rapid advance equips cybercriminals with increasing numbers of tools they can use for cyberattacks, and this won’t stop if users are not educated about them. We cannot allow its increasing sophistication to enable it to turn against us. The means of protection must keep pace with the realities of cybercrime. This is why education is vital. If users come to recognise that using passwords as the sole means of online access presents a security risk to their personal data, then they can also recognise that using twofactor authentication, which adds a significant extra layer of security, will tilt the odds back in their favour. The challenge, in addition to enabling them to recognise the threats, is to arm them with security tools that help them keep their information safe and secure. In the absence of such tools, the continued growth of threats and attacks is all but guaranteed.

However, the adoption of these technologies starts by acknowledging the threats, which can only happen if there is a base of users who are educated and able to determine what they should be protecting themselves from, and thus the best way to protect themselves.

increasingly ruthless, to the point that even industries such as healthcare are being attacked.” Education makes a big difference For all of us working in the world of information security, no maxim has proven truer than that which says the weakest link in the chain is the end user.

These days, information is equally critical whether handled by a reporter or by an executive; and even more sensitive for healthcare professionals and the medical records they handle on a daily basis. Active participation by governments and companies to protect

There is an increasing volume of security information available, but the number of people who are skilled enough to perform the tasks necessary for defence is dangerously low. We must, therefore, see education as the fundamental factor that makes the difference. Given that training new professionals to work in information security will not happen immediately, the focus of the immediate future should be on building awareness among users of basic internet security measures.

this information is necessary. We have reached a point where education on security issues must be handled in a formal manner, and companies should not simply relegate these issues to be covered as a one-off when inducting new employees. It must be a continuous and ongoing effort. End users must feel they are a part of the entire security chain and must understand firstly that these threats do exist, and secondly, that the necessary

So, the big challenge for those of us who are responsible for security is to turn ourselves into the first line of defence of information. Educating users about current threats and how they spread can make all the difference in reducing the impact of cybercrime in the future. We should not forget that security is the responsibility of everyone and not exclusive to those working in IT.

mechanisms to use technology securely also exist.

ESET Ireland T: 053 914 66 00 E: info@eset.ie W: eset.ie

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Likewise, the best way to guarantee the confidentiality of information is to make use of encryption technologies for all forms of communication. As for ransomware, the best way to protect yourself from permanent loss of personal information is ensuring proper – including offline – backups are in place for the most sensitive or important data.

“Cybercriminals are becoming

issues eolas

Mother and baby homes final report issued The mass grave at the Bon Secours mother and baby home in Tuam, County Galway.

The Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation issued its final report in January, prompting a formal State apology to the thousands of women and children affected. However, criticism over the report has led to calls for an independent review. Roughly 56,000 women and 57,000 children were placed or born in the mother and baby homes that operated throughout the State from 1922 until 1998. 9,000 children, 15 per cent of the total, died within these homes, often going without proper burial and without record keeping. The 2014 revelation that there were no burial records for the 800 children who had died in the Bon Secours mother and baby home in Tuam prompted the investigation that has culminated in the publication of the Commission’s report. The Commission uncovered similar cases, such as the Bessborough home in County Cork, where three quarters of the children born in 1943 were found to have died and the Seán Ross home in County

eolas issues

Tipperary, where children were found buried in coffins, unlike the Tuam remains, which had been found in an underground structure divided into 20 chambers of a disused septic tank. The Commission placed the blame at the feet of the fathers of the children and “their [the mothers’] own immediate families”, although it stated that these people were supported and condoned by the State and the churches that operated the homes. It stated that they had found no evidence that women were forced to enter homes by the State, but that women with no familial or financial support were left with no alternative and that while the refuge provided by the homes had been a harsh one, their families had provided no refuge at all.

Despite the recording of infant mortality rates in some homes that were accessible to contemporary politicians, the report found that there was little public concern from politicians or the public over the “appalling level of infant mortality”, although what the public knew about these homes, given the lack of media and political attention at the time, is questionable. Possibly the most controversial of the report’s findings relate to the abuse that occurred within the homes. On the abuse of women, the report states that “there is no doubt that women in mother and baby homes were subjected to emotional abuse, but there is very little evidence of physical abuse and no evidence of sexual abuse”; on the abuse of children, the

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report found that there had been physical abuse, “which, while unacceptable, was minor in comparison to the evidence of physical abuse documented in the Ryan report”, and “no evidence” of sexual abuse of children. These findings of no evidence came despite the testimony of survivors of the institutions who testified to the contrary to the Commission and the refusal to count these testimonies as evidence highlights a familiar issue for Government inquiries: as seen in the report on the Magdalene Laundries published in 2013, institutions are said to have submitted evidence while individuals are said to have submitted claims. In terms of recommendations, the report states that adopted people should have a right to their birth certificates and birth information, with a mechanism that allows a birth mother to argue her privacy rights. It also recommends a central repository for the records of those institutions to allow for information to be obtained from one place.

“These findings of no evidence came despite the testimony of survivors of the institutions who testified to the contrary to the Commission and the refusal to count these testimonies as evidence highlights a familiar issue for Government inquiries: as seen in the report on the Magdalene Laundries published in 2013, institutions are said to have submitted evidence while individuals are said to have submitted claims.”

Before Profit TD Richard Boyd-Barrett calling the report and Martin’s response “a sham, an insult, and a whitewash”. Martin responded that his remarks “in no way sought to diminish the role of the churches or the State”, but that the had spoken of “the perverse moral code overseen by the Church that… was responsible for this in terms of its attitude to sexual morality”.

the Roman Catholic and Protestant

justification and legal basis for its

In offering an apology to those affected on behalf of the State, Taoiseach Micheál Martin TD said: “For the women and children who were treated so cruelly, we must do what we can, to show our deep remorse, understanding and support. And so, on behalf of the Government, the State and its citizens, I apologise for the profound generational wrong visited upon Irish mothers and their children who ended up in a mother and baby home or county home.”

Criticism of the report has not been confined to opposition parties, with Seanad leader, Regina Doherty of Fine Gael, calling for an independent review of the report. Doherty called the report “cold” and “callous” and that she didn’t “think it’s good enough to stand as our nation’s response to our women”. Doherty was backed by Fianna Fáil Senator Lisa Chambers, who stated that the report did not contain the “level of workmanship” required. Chambers was especially critical of the report stating that there had been no evidence of abuse within the homes. “Direct testimony is evidence,” she said.

However, Martin’s response was heavily criticised for his statement (echoed by Tánaiste Leo Varadkar TD) before the official apology, in which he asserted that all of Irish society bore responsibility for the homes. This sentiment was criticised as an attempt to downplay the role of the State and the churches, with People

In a statement, Paul Hyde Redmond, the Chairperson of the Coalition of Mother and Baby Home Survivors, said that the State was “already trying to exclude as many survivors as possible from redress by arbitrary [sic] setting a deadline of a six-month stay”. The Coalition itself said in a statement that “the Government and

schemes is readily available there”,

The Commission said that any financial redress scheme remains a matter for Government and Minister for Children Roderic O’Gorman TD has pledged a scheme will be brought to the Government before the end of April of this year. The report also recommended that the women who worked in the homes without pay should be compensated.

churches ran the homes together hand in glove” and their actions represent “a damning indictment of Church and State”. Further controversy has since arisen around, with the Data Protection Commissioner writing to the Commission, asking it to provide the deletion of its recordings of witness testimony. No verbatim transcripts of the testimonies of 550 people over five years were made. This, along with the Commission’s statement in the report that it has “made serious efforts to discover Department of Local Government documentation relating to the housing development on the site of the Tuam Children’s Home and has failed to discover such in the National Archives, despite the fact that documentation on many contemporaneous housing raises serious questions. The Commission and its report, which had been intended as a final chapter in one of Ireland’s darkest episodes has inadvertently caused yet more State mismanagement to unpack.

eolas issues

Infrastructure Ireland

Investing for a post-Covid recovery

Thursday 25th March 2021 • Online conference

eolas Magazine is organising the 2021 Infrastructure Ireland® conference which will look at how we can deliver the next generation of infrastructure. The Covid-19 pandemic has had far-reaching economic consequences, right across the globe. Amid the ongoing crisis, infrastructure investment has been identified as a route to sustainable recovery. Indeed, while during the previous recession, capital budgets were cut and infrastructure projects halted, the current Government has re-emphasised its commitment to public infrastructure in both the Programme for Government and the capital expenditure proposed in Budget 2021.

Speakers include

Key issues include:

Michael McGrath TD Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform

Cormac Murphy Head of Office European Investment Bank

Dr Jennifer Schooling Director of Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction University of Cambridge

Ed Hearne Investment Projects and Programmes Office Department of Public Expenditure and Reform

Donal Murphy Head of Infrastructure and Credit Investments Ireland Strategic Investment Fund

Hazel Jones Planning and Development Director Bartra Capital Property Group

Giles Stevens Director of Policy National Infrastructure Commission, UK

David Conway Chief Executive Limerick Twenty Thirty

Dr Mark Davis Associate Professor of Economic Sociology, University of Leeds

Alan Murphy Regional Manager Smart Dublin

•

Review to Renew: Ensuring the delivery of investment priorities in unprecedented times

•

Funding and financing major infrastructure projects

•

Innovative collaborations between the public and private sector

•

Rebuilding health infrastructure for a post-Covid world

•

Creating resilient infrastructure systems

•

Ensuring long term value

•

Crowdfunding as untapped potential for public sector financing

•

Decarbonisation and the path towards Net Zero Infrastructure

•

Creating Smart Infrastructure

•

The impact of the pandemic on the construction sector

•

Regional infrastructure: Driving an economic and social renaissance

•

Future outlook and delivering the next generation of infrastructure

How to register Tel: 01 661 3755 • Email: registration@eolasmagazine.ie • Web: www.infrastructure.eolasmagazine.ie

Infrastructure and construction report

Sponsored by

infrastructure and construction report

Minister Michael McGrath TD: Investing in infrastructure

Experience of previous crises shows that deprioritising infrastructure investment during economic downturn is a mistake. Investment in infrastructure has a ‘multiplier’ effect and is crucial to the national economic and social recovery post-Covid-19. Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and Fianna Fáil TD for Cork South Central, Michael McGrath, writes. At times it can be difficult to remember what the world was like before Covid. The most burning desire amongst the public at the moment is for a sense of hope that better days are ahead. While we remain in a period of severe restrictions on our day to day lives, the commencement of the vaccine programme has certainly given the country a new feeling of optimism that we will eventually be able to put this traumatic period in our history behind us. It is undoubtedly the case that like many diseases, Covid leaves deep scars in its wake. Terrible illness and the loss of loved ones means that for many families, life will never be the same again. Even as the vaccine is delivered, the long-lasting pain of the pandemic

will linger. The impact of coronavirus and the necessary response has and will continue to cause disruption to our society and our economy for some time to come. Recovering from the pandemic will necessitate concerted action to tackle these physical and mental-health impacts. In order for us as a nation to fully recover from the havoc wreaked by the pandemic, we must also get our economy back on its feet. In so doing, we must grasp whatever positives we can find in the midst of the turmoil we have experienced Investing in infrastructure is one of the key ways to create jobs and boost the economy. The package of public works under Franklin D Roosevelt’s New Deal projects helped the US Federal

government survive the Great Depression by decreasing the employment rate by 10 per cent in less than five years. Aside from its economic importance, infrastructure is the cornerstone of modern society and this dependence will continue to increase in the coming decades. Infrastructure investment is the backbone of a successful economy, keeping people employed and businesses afloat while maintaining the productive capacity of the economy. Further, investing in greener infrastructure projects will support the transition to a more sustainable society and help create a world that is ‘better than normal’ after Covid-19. In times of crisis, our first instinct might be to put investment and particularly

Review to Renew Published in 2018, the National Development Plan 2018-2027 (NDP) is a €116 billion, 10-year programme of capital investment aiming at upgrading Ireland’s infrastructure, enhancing economic capacity, and promoting balanced regional development. Essentially it is a blueprint, setting out a strategic framework for public capital investment from 2018 to 2027. As part of Project Ireland 2040, there is an ongoing commitment to align the National Development Plan with the National Planning Framework. Central to this is the commitment to balanced regional development. Infrastructure investments such as the National Broadband Plan and the €1 billion Rural Regeneration and Development Fund will help reinvigorate rural Ireland over the coming years. The projects that are funded under the National Development Plan impact where we live, how we work, how we travel; our health and education systems and our social and cultural and sporting facilities. Crucially these projects will determine how successful we are in tackling climate change and protecting our natural environment. Review to Renew therefore has massive potential to shape how we as Irish people live our lives over the coming decade and beyond.

In planning for the future, the Government has committed to setting out substantial reforms to the development and planning process for infrastructure projects as part of the NDP Review. This means: • ensuring that the appropriate overall level of capital investment is set; • striking the right balance in allocating investment across different departments and sectors; and • introducing structural reforms and measures to increase capacity in the construction sector to ensure that construction projects are delivered on-time and on-budget. While maintaining the focus on addressing the health emergency, we need to be prepared for the transition to the post-Covid-19 world. Building confidence is crucial amid an uncertain economic recovery and therefore public investment is being sustained to support the economic recovery and provide confidence, both nationally and internationally, regarding our pipeline of infrastructure investment. Throughout the process of Review to Renew, infrastructure projects already underway continue to be developed and delivered under Project Ireland 2040. Rural Ireland must be a central part of our national economic and social recovery. We need to be forwardlooking and ambitious and seek to realise opportunities for rural areas. The review will reinforce the Government's plans to support rural Ireland over the coming years through compact growth in our rural towns and villages supported by the National Broadband Plan. It is imperative that we invest in climate mitigation and climate adaptation while ensuring that public investment across all sectors strive to meet to meet Ireland’s ambitious climate targets. Infrastructure investments have a powerful ‘multiplier effect’ that stimulates demand, creates employment in construction and increases economic activity. Review to Renew will assess and adapt to these labour market impacts, which go beyond construction per se and include ICT, research and development and machinery and equipment.

As part of Review to Renew, I have asked my ministerial colleagues to rigorously assess the costs of existing planned projects to ensure that those costs are up-to-date and realistic. I am also developing a new external review process for all major projects worth over €100 million.

Public consultation

infrastructure and construction report

infrastructure investments lower on the list of priorities while trying to protect the everyday services and incomes of our people. But we know from previous crises that this is not the correct approach and can lead to constraints and shortages in the following years. Accordingly, in last year’s July stimulus and in Budget 2021, I allocated capital expenditure of over €10.8 billion for this year, a new peak in public investment. But investment in our economy has to be smart so that it benefits every region, town and city in our country. We must invest in a well-planned, well-targeted and well-managed way. That is why, some weeks after the Budget, the Government decided to bring forward the review of the National Development Plan, originally scheduled for 2022. We announced Review to Renew on 3 November 2020 and will launch a revised NDP in Summer 2021.

Importantly, the review also involves a public consultation. Effective consultation allows government to make informed decisions on matters of policy, to improve the delivery of public services, and to improve the accountability of public bodies. I want to make absolutely sure that all interested and affected parties have the opportunity to take part in this important process which is open until 19 February 2021. At the time of writing, we have received over 200 submissions. The strong stakeholder engagement in this process demonstrates the importance of ‘meaningful’ participation, which will help to inform and build towards a cohesive future for all citizens of Ireland. Taken together, all of the strands of work that form part of Review to Renew will provide a strong evidence base to allow us, as a Government, to make informed decisions and to bring forward a new National Development Plan in the Summer of 2021. In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been much discussion about an ‘infrastructure-led recovery’ across the globe. We know that we need to now create opportunities to rebuild in an even better way as, without substantial reform, we risk repeating the mistakes of the past. Investment decisions must support the broader economic, environmental, and social outcomes. Our national recovery requires a holistic approach, involving the contribution of both urban and rural areas. It is important that we hear from as many people as possible, that we hear about the issues that matter to you now and into the future. I encourage all interested parties, whether individuals, community groups or representative bodies, to visit gov.ie/2040 for more information on the National Development Plan. 39

KPMG: Emerging trends in infrastructure infrastructure and construction report

an opportunity to further regionalise the Irish economy as per the Government’s stated goals. “Cities will always be an important part of the economy and society,” he says. “What is likely to change is an increased emphasis on the role of regional towns and cities where many of us have been camped out in our home offices for the past 12 months. Regular commuting to Dublin may be a thing of the past and the pandemic creates an opportunity for these towns and cities to become centres of economic and social activity again. This more balanced regional approach is something that already exists in government policy and it gives an opportunity for Galway, Limerick, Cork, Waterford and regional towns to play a bigger part in our future sustainable growth.”

Robert Costello, Managing Director, Deal Advisory, KPMG Ireland, speaks to eolas about how infrastructure investment will enable the recovery from the Covid-19 downturn, Ireland’s green agenda and what role our cities will play in the post-Covid world.

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“Since the onset of the pandemic, we have seen a significant reach from Government in our everyday lives,” Costello says. “Globally, governments have had to step up and intervene in everything from restricting our movements through lockdown to the protection of jobs and investment in certain areas. It shows the importance of government and its ability to invest and improve people’s lives. Done in the right way, government investment in infrastructure can help build the recovery. “In the UK, they’re talking about building back better, in Ireland it’s the review to renew. Essentially, we should be looking at the role that infrastructure has to play in the recovery. Not just directly through increased employment as a result of 40

In order for work, education and other aspects of life to further regionalise, guaranteed access to fibre broadband is a must. This has not been a fact of life for all areas in Ireland, something that the Government’s National Broadband Plan hopes to remedy through its connection of 540,000 premises to highspeed broadband. Costello is intimately familiar with the NBP given KPMG’s work on it and he sees it as “part of the jigsaw”.

government spending but also in areas of sustainable investment that will help our economy and society into the future. In the context of digital, we need to build the supporting infrastructure to make sure all of society has access to the digital platforms now needed to work remotely when required, access education and access healthcare. While we may return to a less ‘virtual world’ after the pandemic, the digital future has been accelerated and is here to stay. This will have benefits in terms of productivity, sustainability and flexibility but will also create new challenges.”

“What they’re trying to do with the NBP is to bridge the digital divide, giving people across the country access to high-speed broadband,” he says. “What we are likely to see when the NBP does get rolled out, is the 540,000 premises having higher quality faster broadband than the rest of the population who currently have 30mb broadband. That will potentially flip the digital divide and put pressure on commercial providers in the market to invest in their infrastructure. If they can do that and make a profit, they will, but if they can’t there might be a need for further government intervention.

Remote working and learning has undoubtedly put pressure on Ireland’s digital infrastructure, but it has also changed the face of the country’s cities, especially Dublin. Here, Costello sees

“All of this is leading to what is coined the ‘gigabit society’, where the focus is on providing access to a range of digital services across the country. We expect to see a huge amount of investment in

this area from commercial operators, particularly those building out fibre and 5G. This will be supplemented by government support through partnerships, funding and changes to regulation and legislation.”

“The single biggest trend in the transport and logistics sector is the explosion of data. With digital platforms and Blockchain capturing customer data, and Internet of Things sensors constantly feeding data on product shipments, the volume of information is rising exponentially. The challenge is not just about capturing data; it’s about putting it to effective use, to understand evolving markets, gain new insights about customers and their preferences and provide instant updates on the progress of passenger and freight transport. “The first couple of weeks of Brexit have seen the supply chain and logistics having difficulties in terms of access to goods. Development of digital platforms and a systematic integrated approach to use of the data in our supply chains can really improve the challenges we are facing with imports and exports at the moment.”

“An example of this is the Renewable Electricity Support Scheme [RESS],

providing access to a range of digital services across the country. We expect to see a huge amount of investment in this area from commercial operators, particularly those building out fibre and 5G. This will be supplemented by government support through partnerships, funding and changes to regulation and legislation.” which is entering its second auction this year. This will facilitate the provision of renewable infrastructure, to drive the transition from carbon energy. With that comes the just transition and the closing down of coal and peat plants. The Bord na Móna peat plants are an example, where supports are currently being put in place to transform the business and where a number of the former staff will be offered retraining in sustainability projects.” Concluding, Costello sees the RESS auctions as a good example of what is to come from the Government in terms of cooperation between the public and private sectors: “The Irish Government has a very strong record of public and private sectors working together. We’re seeing this in the renewables area with RESS, but there are lots of other opportunities for government and private sector to collaborate, especially on climate action. Electric vehicle charging and renewable energy support schemes are certainly areas that should be explored now.

the Public Spending Code, the Government’s guide for capital spending approvals, can help with this. It sets out a decision gate framework whereby government can plan early and turn policy into programmes and projects, through setting out project specifications, project risks and mitigations, commercial strategy, governance plans, delivery models and procurement strategies. This will enable a partnership where the public and private sector can deliver what they need to deliver. We have seen a number of good examples of this during the pandemic and will hopefully see more in the infrastructure space in the coming years ahead.”

Robert Costello Managing Director, Deal Advisory KPMG in Ireland E: robert.costello@kpmg.ie W: www.kpmg.ie

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The 2020s will be a defining decade, with the reaction to Brexit and the pandemic coinciding with Ireland striving for net zero carbon by 2050. “In the Irish context, we have Project Ireland 2040 which sets out the exchequer capital investments that government will make over the next eight years or so,” Costello says. “We’ve also got the Climate Action Plan, currently being converted into the Climate Action Bill, which sets out the objectives and actions for Ireland to achieve net zero by 2050. There’s a huge element of the Climate Action Plan that relies on capital spending and investment in infrastructure in particular. In addition, there are government schemes funded through carbon levies to stimulate investment in renewables.

gigabit society, where the focus is on

infrastructure and construction report

Digital has also been to the fore of discussions around Brexit and how borders in Ireland could be managed, with possible technological measures being discussed as a means to manage the situation on the island. Costello predicts that digital asset and inventory management will become key in this situation.

“All of this is leading to what is coined the

“Key to a successful partnership is government knowing exactly what it is looking for in a private sector partner. This involves doing the right planning up front and being a sophisticated, educated buyer. A proper application of 41

infrastructure and construction report

Budget 2021: Capital expenditure allocations October’s Budget 2021 delivered €87.8 billion in spending as Ireland looks to recover from the Covid-19 downturn and come out stronger on the other side. Critical to that will be a capital expenditure allocation of over €10.1 billion. As part of the continued funding of Project Ireland 2040. 2021 will see a gross voted core capital expenditure allocation of €9.735 billion, a €1.5 billion increase on the revised estimates for 2020 and more than twice that of the pre-National Development Plan 2017 Budget figure of €4.6 billion. Adding to the core of €9.735 billion is a once-off allocation of €290 million to cover Covid-19 costs across a number of departments. To combat Brexit costs, €26 million of capital expenditure is being allocated to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment to deliver support through local enterprise offices and Enterprise Ireland, €4 million to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and €16 million to the Revenue Commissioners. The Shared Island Fund will also receive €50 million in capital expenditure, bringing the total gross voted capital expenditure allocated for 2021 to €10.1 billion, a 2.8 per cent increase on the 2020 level. The most notable change when studying year-on-year differences is that of gross voted capital expenditure experiencing a 19.2 per cent rise from the Pre-Budget Expenditure Update figures provided for 2020 to 2021, from €8.165 billion to €9.735 billion. Only emergency Covid

and Brexit spending of €1.681 billion in 2020 brings the overall difference to 2.8 per cent, although it is fair to assume that 2021 spending levels would not be so high without these crises having preceded Budget 2021.

• the continuation of construction of major road projects, especially in the west of the country, such as the N56 in Donegal, the N4 in Sligo, the N5 in Mayo and the Dunkettle Interchange in Cork;

Departments that will enjoy significant increases in their spending include Environment, Climate and Communications (63.7 per cent increase), Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (52.9 per cent), Transport (32.5 per cent), Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media (30.3 per cent) and Housing, Local Government and Heritage (22.1 per cent). Departments due to incur a reduction in allocation include Finance (18.2 per cent decrease, though emergency 2020 figures must again be considered here), Agriculture, Food and the Marine (1.1 per cent), Public Expenditure and Reform (1.8 per cent), and Justice (4.1 per cent).

• the investment of over €270 million to support up to 20 higher education building projects across campuses in Technological University Dublin (Blanchardstown and Tallaght), the Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Dún Laoghaire and Athlone Institute of Technology, and the creation of Munster Technology University through work on the Cork and Tralee IT campuses; • the support of circa 145 school building projects under the Large Scale and Additional Scheme;

Notable planned projects due to be funded in 2021 include:

• the allocation of €132 million in capital expenditure on the National Broadband Plan, which “will help to connect thousands of homes and businesses to high-speed fibre in 2021”;

• the purchase of 41 additional InterCity Railcar carriages a part of fleet expansion for DART+, with the potential for up to 600 electric carriages;

• the funding of over 100 projects through the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund, including the Kinsale Library Project and the Great Southern Greenway Project in Limerick;

Total gross voted expenditure 2021 by ministerial vote group Budget 2021 (€ million)

Change (%)

274

271

-1.1

3.2

Defence

113

131

15.9

Education

748

740

-1.1

Enterprise, Trade and Employment

632

642

1.6

Environment, Climate and Communciations

377

617

63.7

Finance

-18.2

Foreign Affairs

Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science

174

266

52.9

Health

854

880

2,266

2,766

22.1

Justice

269

258

-4.1

Public Expenditure and Reform

225

221

-1.8

Rural and Community Development

152

167

9.9

6.7

132

172

30.3

1,868

2,475

32.5

Agriculture, Food and the Marine Children, Equality, Disablity, Inclusion and Youth

Housing, Local Government and Heritage

Social Protection Taoiseach Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media Transport Unallocated

Gross Voted Capital Expenditure (Core) • the addition of 26 critical care beds and 546 acute hospital beds; and • the allocation of €131 million for defence spending to “facilitate a programme of sustained equipment replacement and renewal and infrastructure development across the Army, Air Corps and Naval Service which reflects the policy approach outlined in the White Paper on Defence”. The 63.7 per cent increase in capital funding for the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications is expected to cover the costs of a National Home Retrofit Scheme, although details of such a

infrastructure and construction report

Pre-Budget Expenditure Update 2020 (€ million)

Department

8,165 scheme or Renewable Energy Support Scheme (RESS) auctions are not forthcoming in the Budget plans. Commitments are however included to meet the demands of the Climate Action Plan, which includes home retrofits, grants for the provision of electric vehicles and grants for the construction of both public and private charging infrastructure for those vehicles. In terms of housing, capital funding of €2.4 billion has been allocated as the Government seeks to recover in its performance in this area after the Covidcaused setbacks and missed targets for 2020. 2021’s target is the building and acquisition of 12,750 social homes, to

9,735

19.2

which €2.8 billion of capital expenditure has been pledged. This figure also incorporates the delivery of an additional 15,000 HAP tenancies and 800 RAS tenancies, with HAP expenditure expected to reach €558 million to support over 67,000 tenancies. RAS expenditure is projected to be €130 million for 18,000 tenancies and SHCEP expenditure to be €250 million for 21,000 tenancies. Lastly, local authorities will directly build 2,900 houses on public land and regenerate a further 550 homes, while AHBs and PPPs will deliver a further 3,950 homes combined. 43

infrastructure and construction report

Recent court judgments on project planning costs and liquidated damages successful challenger would typically be awarded against the losing party only (in this case the Planning Board), unless the conduct by the developer had unnecessarily prolonged a case.

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On 28 January 2021, in striking down planning permission for a strategic housing development, the Court awarded costs against An Bord Pleanála and the developer. The challenge was brought by Dublin City Council (DCC) against An Bord Pleanála on the basis that the grant of planning permission in the Dublin docklands area was in breach of building height restrictions. Developer jointly liable for costs with the Planning Board in planning case The Planning Board had granted permission to increase the height of one tower from 11 to 13 storeys, and another tower from seven to 11 storeys. The developer was participating as a notice party only. In deciding to overturn the 44

grant of planning the High Court awarded costs against both An Bord Pleanála and the developer. The High Court’s decision to overturn the permission is currently under appeal. It is understood that the award of costs against the developer is also under appeal. This award is a significant departure from usual practice where the costs of a

The Court awarded DCC its costs on the basis of the usual rule and the Planning Board consented to an order for costs being made against it. The Court accepted that the decision was made by the Board and as such it was the Board who had committed the legal error. However, the Court held that the developer had tried to defend the Board’s decision, and in doing so brought itself into the frame to pay DCC’s costs. In particular, the Court stated that “a significant burden of defending the action, similar to the burden on [the Board], was taken on by [the developer]”. On that basis, the Court held that it was appropriate to award costs against the developer so that the Board and the developer were made jointly and severally liable for DCC’s costs. Until now, it has been rare for a costs order to be made against the developer in challenges to planning permissions. In this case, the Court’s decision appears to be based only on the fact that the developer took on the burden of defending the action, rather than that the developer unnecessarily prolonging the case (although the court did not ultimately make a finding on this point). The Court did accept that a developer might not be liable for costs where it “makes only a brief intervention in a case where the vast bulk of representing the losing point of view is taken up by someone else”. Ultimately, this decision increases the risk that a developer who defends a permission could have costs awarded against it, even if the developer runs that defence efficiently. Developers should take careful account of this risk.

Liquidated damages: applicability in the context of termination

For many years, the courts have grappled over issues arising where the works have not been completed by the completion date, but the employer has terminated the contract, meaning that the contractor is not afforded the opportunity to complete the works. The courts have, over the years, deployed three approaches in dealing with this issue: • the original approach taken by the (UK) courts was one in which LDs were not applicable at all in a scenario where works are late, incomplete and the contract is terminated. Instead, a general damages claim may be available; • more recently (2010), opinion began to shift toward LDs being applicable for any period of culpable delay up until the date of termination, from which point on general damages would then apply. The logic behind

• also in 2010, the (UK) courts allowed for LDs to continue to apply post termination until the works are completed by replacement contractors. This approach, however, was criticised on the basis that once the contract was terminated, the contractor loses control over the time for completion particularly where a replacement contractor has been engaged to finish out the work. A recent UK Court of Appeal decision in the Triple Point case has created some uncertainty in relation to the applicability of liquidated damages following termination. The key issue in Triple Point focused on the termination of the employment of the first contractor, a supplier of software systems, after the contractual completion date but before the contractor had completed the agreed works where a second contractor was subsequently engaged. The court in Triple Point reviewed the three previous approaches discussed above and departed from the more recent approach reverting to the position that the employer had no right to claim liquidated damages for any portions of work that had not been completed by the first contractor and could instead claim actual

losses from delays in the completion of the works as unliquidated damages. The Triple Point case does need to be considered in drafting and agreeing LD clauses in construction/works contracts, particularly when using standard form contracts. Commentators agree that it would not be a huge leap to extend Triple Point’s application to standard form construction/work contracts and have pointed to two main issues arising

infrastructure and construction report

Commonly found in construction/works contracts, liquidated damages (LDs) allow an employer and contractor to agree a set rate of damages to be paid to the employer by the contractor where the works have not been completed by the contractual completion date. These rates will normally be calculated and agreed on a daily or weekly basis as an estimate of the potential contractual liability for delay.

this shift in approach was that contractors should pay damages for any loss resulting from any further delay caused by the need to have the works completed by an alternative contractor; and

in removing the ability to use the liquidated damages mechanism: • employers would now only be able to claim unliquidated damages for culpable delays by the contractor, meaning that they would also have to establish the actual losses suffered; and • contractors may be at risk for a much greater sum in a termination scenario through unliquidated damages as opposed to what may have been agreed for under a contract. In light of the decision in Triple Point, future proof/appropriate LDs drafting should be included in construction/work contracts so as to ensure that the outcome is satisfactory to both parties. In order to protect LDs, employers should look to include bespoke amendments to enable employers to levy LDs after the point of termination.

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Recovering from Brexit and Covid infrastructure and construction report

Budget 2021 contained within it a €3.4 billion recovery fund to enable Ireland’s response to Brexit and Covid-19. eolas details where those funds are coming from and the hopes for its utilisation.

The recovery fund makes up over half of the €5.5 billion set aside under the €18 billion budget package to deal with the two greatest threats to the Irish economy: Brexit and Covid-19. The remaining €2.1 billion will be made up by contingency funding.

Varadkar said: “We have to be in a position to make decisions like, for example, extending the PUP for a longer period, making sure the wage subsidy scheme is there for us as long as needed, maybe extending the Covid Restrictions Subsidy Scheme.”

The funding is to be used to top up emergency wage supports, social welfare payments, Brexit schemes and health measures. Speaking in October 2020, as budget measures were being outlined, Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise Leo Varadkar TD explained that the fund was created because “we don’t know what’s going to happen with the pandemic… we don’t know if there’ll be a third wave, when it will start, how long it might go on for”.

In his budget speech, Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe said that the recovery fund “will be targeted and will help stimulate increased domestic demand and employment”, with three main focus areas: infrastructure development; reskilling and retraining; and supporting investment and jobs. The first €100 million from the fund was approved for the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment for Brexit preparations in October 2020.

Donohoe explained that with €400 million of the €2.1 contingency fund expected to go to health expenditure, the €3.4 billion recovery fund would remain available regardless of the level of public health guidance throughout 2021. Donohoe said: “The recovery fund is independent of whatever public guidance is in place for 2021. It is obviously the strong hope that we are successful with efforts against the disease, but regardless of where we are in the public health guidance, that figure will be available. Minister [for Public Expenditure, Michael] McGrath and I will make recommendations to the Government on how and when to spend that figure.” Varadkar had at the same time said that the Government would have to examine if

infrastructure and construction report

for the unprecedented level of economic uncertainty that currently prevails”. The fund is said to be “sufficiently large to provide a significant stimulus to the domestic economy, should it be needed”, and “can be deployed to finance direct public expenditure measures or taxation measures; the exact allocation will depend on what is the most appropriate policy instrument at the time”. It is also explained that once the (immediate) Brexit and Covid threats have passed, the resources under the fund can be “withdrawn in a timely manner”, meaning that the €3.4 billion will not enter the tax or expenditure base due to the Fiscal Stability Treaty legally requiring balanced budgets in “normal times”.

“The recovery fund is independent of whatever public guidance is in place for 2021. It is obviously the strong hope that we are successful with efforts against the disease, but regardless of where we are in the public health guidance, that figure will be available. Minister [for Public Expenditure, Michael] McGrath and I will make recommendations to the Government on how and when to spend that figure.” Paschal Donohoe TD, Minister for Finance

schemes such as the PUP and the CRSS would be extended past March 2021. In January 2021, after the Department of Finance reported that the Government had accrued an overall deficit of €19 billion for 2020 McGrath used the Covid recovery fund to allay any fears of decreased public spending. “If you look at the amount we have actually allocated to departments, through the votes in terms of Covid, it’s of the order of €6.5 billion and then when you add the contingency fund of €2.1 billion and recovery fund of €3.4 billion, there is provisions there as such for exceptional type spending of the order of €12 billion,” McGrath said.

Where exactly the €3.4 billion recovery fund will be targeted has not yet been forthcoming from the Government, but the Department of Finance’s November 2020 publication Taking Stock: The Fiscal Response to Covid-19 says that the fund will allow Government to “respond swiftly and decisively to the evolving public health and economic situation, including the fallout from the ending of the transition period (that governs bilateral trade with the UK) at end-December”. The recovery fund, the document says, was “designed to be flexible and is a deliberate effort by Government to allow, within the budgetary framework,

The question of how such spending will be funded was answered in part by the National Treasury Management Agency’s sale of 10-year bonds in January 2021. The €5.5 billion raised in the selling of the bonds was greater than expected and will cover a third of the minimum borrowing the State plans on raising in 2021 to deal with the Covid crisis. The deal raised more than €40 billion of orders, the NTMA said, with the bonds carrying a record negative interest rate for the Irish Government’s 10-year deal, -0.257 per cent. The negative rate is a reflection of European Central Bank efforts to keep borrowing rates low in the Eurozone during Covid crisis. Between €3 billion and €4 billion had been expected to be raised by the ond sales, with a further €16 billion to €20 billion to be raised throughout 2021 after the NTMA raised €24 billion last year at interest rates of 0.002 per cent. Having entered level five lockdown restrictions in January 2021, once again closing construction sites and halting work on the building of some essential infrastructure, the type of funding involved in the recovery fund will undoubtedly be needed across the Irish economy. Despite there being no details as yet about exactly when and where the funding will be made available, the message from the Government is that infrastructural investment and development will not be allowed to falter as it was following the 2008 financial crisis. 47

infrastructure and construction report

Infratech and its possibilities A Virgin HyperloopOne test pod

Infratech is the deployment or integration of digital technologies within physical infrastructure in an effort to create agile, data-driven infrastructure. eolas examines the trends and technologies emerging in this sphere. As is quite often the case in areas such as emerging technologies, China and India have been to the fore in terms of innovation. In 2020, India was due to begin construction on the world’s first publicly used hyperloop project, connecting the cities of Mumbai and Pune in the state of Maharashtra, which plans to cut travel time between the two cities from four hours to 28 minutes. Hyperloop is one of the more highprofile and advanced examples of Infratech, which uses reduced-pressure tubes to allow the pressurised vehicles within to travel at speeds of up to 1,2000km per hour. However, despite receiving approval in 2019, Covid-19 has delayed the project, which now appears to be in danger of being scrapped altogether. In China, the scaling up of infratech is commonplace, with the country having cornered various related markets more likely to affect Ireland such as solar technology and 5G telecommunications. They have also made moves in the AI and robotics areas. Holding influence

over these markets can have widereaching effects on other, smaller aspects on the worldwide rollout of infratech. For instance, the prevalence of 5G telecommunications is a key enabler for the rollout of autonomous vehicles; the prevalence of those vehicles will cause the eventual upgrading of traffic infrastructure such as traffic lights with smart technology, which will use the 5G network to inform the autonomous vehicles of the most efficient routes to take in real time. Ireland could be set to benefit largely from a boom in the use of infratech, not simply through the use of smart vehicles and road infrastructure to solve the country’s longstanding overreliance on personal cars, but also through the proliferation of data centres now sprouting up throughout the country. The data used for innovations in infratech and further afield will now be processed and stored in Ireland, along with notable IT infrastructure itself, but

on top of that, the severe pressure that the data centres put on Ireland’s energy supply also means that the companies building these centres will also be partly responsible for technological advances in Ireland’s striving towards sustainability goals. For example, Amazon has signed a PPA for Ireland’s first fully private wind farm, although its 91.2MW capacity will be small in the national context of energy demand in a country with a growing population and a large amount of data centres. Hyperscale companies such as Microsoft and Google dominate the Irish data centre landscape with 72 per cent of market share; Microsoft has a target of 60 per cent renewable energy to power its centres. With the prevalence of tech giants calling Dublin their European home, there is no doubt that the expertise and hardware will be here, how the country uses that to strengthen our health, education, travel and energy infrastructure remains to be seen.

The ongoing enhancement of urban resilience

resilience has gained increasing interest over the past two decades and can broadly be understood as the capacity of cities to bounce back or even bounce forward from a disturbance or crisis event, writes William Hynes, Managing Director, KPMG Future Analytics.

Responding to continuous global city growth The rapid expansion of cities is

The capacity of cities to mitigate, prepare, respond or recover from these challenges, and how such capacities can be enhanced, has become a critical urban policy question. Building resilience often requires an enhancement of urban planning and design techniques in order to make cities and associated critical infrastructure more resistant to threats and shocks. Urban planning has long had a role in securing cities against these, however, to date many urban interventions have tended to be focussed on particular buildings, structures or local areas in a relatively fragmented way. An integrated and holistic approach to resilience is especially important due to the increasing system complexities and interdependencies associated with urban growth and critical infrastructures, where the cascading effects could significantly affect citizen wellbeing, economic development and environmental quality. Indeed, urban resilience must be seen as a collective responsibility, one which is most effective when it involves a mutual and accountable network of civic institutions,

Establishing the state of the art The emergence of approaches and practices of resilience has enabled the debate on adaptability to gain pace and forge a stronger understanding and relationship between resilience and risk management, with a number of emerging perspectives developing regarding resilience as a goal of risk management, a part of risk management, an extension of risk management and an alternative to risk management. Moving forward, a number of key resilience pillars or requirements are identified such as: a greater requirement for foresight and preparedness; a requirement to consider multiple risks and hazards in a holistic manner and a need for integrated governance of the response. These pillars can be brought together by a range of stakeholders, at multiple scales, to pursue resiliency objectives within urban policy and practice. However, in seeking to implement or address the requirements above, it is necessary to develop a more comprehensive understanding of national policies and associated responsibilities for dealing with issues challenges across Europe and globally.

William Hynes Managing Director, KPMG Future Analytics KPMG in Ireland E: william.hynes@kpmg.ie W: www.kpmg.ie

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There remains ongoing debate around how the concept can be operationalised within urban planning policy and practice. There is ongoing development of approaches, methods and tools to equip the many urban disciplines and professions to ensure the continued enhancement of resilience of existing and future urban development infrastructures and projects. To date, the widespread development and optimisation of such, and subsequent exploitation of such functions, have been relatively limited in practice.

Urban resilience: the emerging challenge

agencies and individual citizens working in partnership towards common goals within a common strategy. Urban resilience can thus shape the way we perceive challenges cities face, as well as provide a framework by which to respond.

infrastructure and construction report

The concept of urban

exposing a larger number of people and critical infrastructures to the threat of disasters and crisis events and poses additional challenges for the design, planning and management of urban areas. Indeed, the very features that make cities feasible and desirable (their architectural structures, population concentrations, places of assembly, and interconnected infrastructure systems) also put them at high risk. Within this context, the enhancement of urban resilience has become far more urgent, necessitating more innovative and integrated approaches to urban planning and development. Indeed, international agreements on global agendas, such as the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, and the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, all call for resilience. Urban decision makers need guidance and support within continuous city growth.

Credit: K.Reichert

infrastructure and construction report

Review to Renew: NDP under review In November 2020, Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Michael McGrath TD brought forward and launched Review to Renew, the midterm review of the National Development Plan 2018-2027 (NDP). The public consultation of the review closed on 19 February 2021. Upon its formation, the Government committed to bringing forward a review of the NDP in order to better align with the priorities of the Programme for Government (PfG). The new NDP will establish a new capital investment framework until 2030. Review to Renew, the public consultation phase of the NDP was launched on 3 November 2020 and the final review is timetabled for completion in summer 2021. The consultation was open to all stakeholders, from industry experts to infrastructure users. The core objectives of Review to Renew are: •

•

ensuring a sufficient overall level of capital investment planned for the future; testing that the proposed allocations to departments and agencies are correct; and ‘sense-checking’ to meet infrastructure challenges and more quickly fulfil PfG priorities.

However, Review to Renew will not consider the merit of individual projects or sectoral policy strategies. Individual departments and agencies establish their own strategies and objectives which then inform the selection of

specific projects. As such, government departments are currently, or will soon be, conducting public consultations on the infrastructure within their remit. The National Development Plan is the Government’s 10-year (2018-2027) programme of public capital investment, intended to upgrade the national infrastructure, enhance economic competitiveness, and deliver balanced regional development. Alongside the National Planning Framework (NPF), a spatial strategy for the next 20 years, the NDP is one of the dual pillars of Project Ireland 2040. Project Ireland 2040 is intended to align capital investment decisions within a defined strategy. There are 10 strategic investment priorities in the current NDP.

3. Rural development: Regional balance is a key strand of Project Ireland 2040 and public capital investment is crucial in supporting job growth and unlocking socioeconomic potential. 4. Environmentally sustainable public transport: The NDP is intended to deliver a public transport network that incorporates high-quality passenger interchange points, ensuring convenience and efficiency in transfer. 5. Enterprise, skills, and innovation capacity: The NDP aims to support job creation across Ireland’s regions through the development of “deeply rooted sectoral clustering” delivered through collaboration and investment in higher education and further education and training.

1. Housing and sustainable urban development: As a top priority, the NDP aims to support the delivery of units to meet housing demand, while underpinning compact development and higher-density cities and towns.

6. Airports and ports: Investment in Ireland’s ports and airports, consistent with national policy, will contribute to international connectivity, which is central to economic competitiveness.

2. National road network: The objective of the NDP is to ensure that that every region and major urban area is linked to Dublin via a high-quality road network.

7. Culture, heritage, and sport: Culture, heritage and sport make significant contributions to the liveability of communities and investment here can complement

enhanced investment in public transport. This investment is conducive to social cohesion and sustainable economic growth.

23.4

4.9 9.7 24.2

9. Water infrastructure: Investment in water is essential to ensuring both public health and the environment. 10. Education, health and childcare: Demographic need necessitates increased investment in the delivery of additional permanent school places. At the launch of the review, Minister McGrath stated: “This review of the NDP provides an opportunity to ensure delivery of more infrastructure to more people, including public transport, broadband, housing and a broad range of social, cultural and community services. Led by the National Investment Office in DPER, the review will also ensure alignment between the NDP and the priorities identified in the Programme for Government, including climate action, housing policy, transport policy, implementation of Sláintecare and balanced regional development.” Emphasising the importance of integrating climate change adaptation and mitigation into the NDP, McGrath said: “Ireland cannot continue with ‘development as usual’ without giving due consideration to climate associated risks. We need to ensure that we have the capacity to adapt and we must take an integrated approach, including climate change adaptation at every stage in our development plan. “This will make development more resilient by reducing climate impacts and make for a better future for the people of Ireland and I am particularly anxious to hear the views of the public on this matter.” Minister of State Ossian Smyth TD added: “All the evidence shows that the greatest impact on improving project outcomes comes from careful project preparation. The recent update to the Public Spending Code strengthens existing guidance to better reflect the realities of project delivery, with a

26.2

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8. Climate action: Recognising Ireland’s enhanced climate ambition as outlined in the Programme for Government, coherent crosssectoral public capital investment must support the creation of a low-carbon, climate-resilient and environmentally sustainable economy and society.

Capital allocations 2018-2022 (%)

11.6

Housing, Planning and Local Government

Transport, Tourism and Sport

Education and Skills

Business, Enterprise and Innovation

Commu nications, Climate Action and Environment

Other sectors

Source: DPER

“All the evidence shows that the greatest impact on improving project outcomes comes from careful project preparation. The recent update to the Public Spending Code strengthens existing guidance to better reflect the realities of project delivery…” Minister of State Ossian Smyth TD particular focus on financial appraisal, cost estimation and risk management. Rigorous application of the updated code is supporting public bodies in gaining a more developed view of costs, risks and timeframes before committing to a project.” Speaking ahead of the publication of the revised NDP in summer 2021, Minister McGrath affirmed: “All submissions will be reviewed by

officials in my department and I look forward to seeing the views of the people of Ireland reflected in the new National Development Plan.” The revised plan, he added, will be “the blueprint for the development of our infrastructure”, establishing the overall capital investment envelope for the current decade up until 2030 and will incorporate five-year rolling departmental capital ceilings and priorities.

The Review to Renew public consultation posed seven questions for stakeholders 1. Is the overall level of public spending on capital investment correct? 2. What should the capital budget be spend on? 3. What types of capital investment should be prioritised? 4. How can the management and governance of public investment be improved? 5. How is the NDP affecting your region? 6. What is your feedback on the Project Ireland 2040 communications? 7. Is there anything else you would like to add?

Build 2020: infrastructure and construction report

Construction sector performance and capacity Build 2020 is the second annual report which analyses available Irish construction sector statistics for the previous year. The report, which provides an overview of the performance and outlook for the sector also informs the work of the Construction Sector Group.

The report states: “An efficient and sustainable construction sector is more

necessary than ever in order to deliver the increased level of housing and infrastructure that will be required for the country’s recovery from Covid-19. This annual report seeks to contribute to the evidence base to inform government and the construction sector on the performance of the industry. The report assesses the industry’s capacity, as well as highlighting possible constraints, risks and opportunities.”

Regional Activity

Covid-19 Response Construction Purchasing Managers Index rose to 51.9 in June 2020 (first growth in four months)

27,300

construction sector workers on Pandemic Unemployment Payments 21 JULY 2020

€8.2

billion capital expenditure allocation for 2020 million of capital investment through the July Stimulus

€500 €10.1

billion in total capital expenditure in Budget 2021

Southern Region: Highest number of planning permissions granted per head of population, and the highest total number of civil engineering planning permissions granted in 2019 Eastern and Midland Region: Highest level of new dwelling completions per head of population over the period 2014–2020

Investment and Output billion or 11% growth in construction investment in 2019

Employment and Enterprise

Core capital investment increased by €1.6 billion or 19% in Budget 2021

2.8%

Costs

148,700

€27

increase in the Wholesale Price Index for Building and Construction Materials FROM MAY 2019 TO MAY 2020

1.8%

increase on average hourly earnings for all construction employees to €21.50

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0.3%

growth in construction sector employment in the year to Q1 2020 in construction sector employment or 6.3% of total employment in the Irish economy

Productivity

5.45%

increase in labour productivity in the construction Sector in 2017

FROM Q1 2019 TO Q1 2020

€25.20 Skills and Knowledge

3,499

new construction apprentice registrations in 2019

GVA per hours worked by persons in the Irish construction sector in 2017

€0.70

per capita investment in R&D by the Irish construction sector in 2017

New apprentice registrations in bricklaying and plastering remained 90% below 2004 levels

National Broadband Plan update infrastructure and construction report

“Significant” progress has been made in the rollout of the National Broadband Plan (NBP), with the intervention area covered by the plan now including 544,000 premises despite Covid-19’s slowdown of work.

The pandemic has simultaneously been the NBP’s greatest obstacle and the greatest reminder of its importance in 2020 with remote working emphasising the need for high-speed internet access throughout the country. The intervention area now covers 96 per cent of the State’s land mass, with 544,000 premises, including premises built after the award of the NBP contract to National Broadband Ireland. The Plan will bring a minimum download speed of 500 megabytes per second to 23 per cent of the State’s population, including 69 per cent of farms. The physical infrastructure involved in the building out of such widespread connectivity will include 140,000km of fibre cable, 1.5 million poles and 15,000km of underground duct networks. In an update on the rollout of the Plan issued in December 2020, the Government pledges that “all counties will see premises passed [with fibre] in the first two years and over 90 per cent of premises in the State will have access to high-speed broadband within the next four years”. Fibre to the home rollout has begun, with National Broadband Ireland subcontractors having carried out survey work on fibre routes to assess if existing infrastructure is usable, the extent of tree trimming required to avoid interference with the fibre cables that are placed overhead, and underground ducting. Having aimed to survey 120,000 premises in total across 2020, the rollout has exceeded that target and surveyed 136,000 premises as of 23 November 2020. Further fibre to the home rollout work has been performed in counties Cork, Cavan, Galway and Limerick, with network deployment work taking place across various towns and townlands. Year one of the NBP contract ends at the end of January 2021, with the Government saying in early December 2020 that 8,000 premises were targeted to be passed with fibre and ready for connection to high-speed broadband by then; a pilot scheme in Carrigaline in Cork was due to be carried out between December 2020 and January 2021, with the first family to be connected under the NBP receiving their connection in January. It remains to be seen how the Covid-19 pandemic and its associated work stoppages will affect the rollout of the programme, as estimations of the connection work to be completed before the end of January 2021 had been done before the introduction of level five lockdown measures that halted all but the most essential of work in late December 2020. The Government’s early December update states that “substantial progress has been made to date”, but that the pandemic has “had an impact on the delivery of the fibre network” and that the “full extent of this impact continues to be assessed”. The update includes the point that NBI has increased its number of survey and design contractors and “engagement has taken place” with Openeir to see if it is possible to increase the volume of work carried out on its network. As communities wait for the fibre network to come to their houses, broadband connection points will be set up in community hubs such as libraries, schools and sports facilities. As of “mid-November”, 201 locations have had equipment installed to facilitate public access WiFi. A new Remote Working Strategy is also said to be under development by the Government, with NBP said to be a key enabler.

Delivering Ireland’s offshore wind ambition

Offshore wind report

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Delivering Ireland’s offshore wind ambition

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Minister Eamon Ryan TD: Unlocking Ireland’s offshore wind potential emissions per annum from 2021 to 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2050, the Government has also committed to “a transformational programme of research and development”. Within the wider programme of innovation, this includes the development of floating offshore wind turbines.

Programme for Government commitments Under the Energy subheading of the Green New Deal mission, the Programme for Government outlines a commitment to produce a “longer-term plan setting out how we will take advantage as a country of the massive potential of offshore energy on the Atlantic Coast”.

Our Shared Future, or the Programme for Government (PfG), establishes the coalition’s ambition for 5GW of offshore wind energy by 2030 with the potential for “at least 30GW of offshore floating wind power” on the Atlantic Coast. Ciarán Galway speaks to Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications Eamon Ryan TD about unlocking Ireland’s offshore potential. Determining a commitment to the “rapid decarbonisation of the energy sector”, the PfG indicates the Government’s intention to “take the necessary action” to deliver at least 70 per cent renewable electricity by 2030. This incorporates the development of offshore wind.

Rationale Until now, onshore wind has been Ireland’s most effective renewable 56

generation technology. A diversification of technologies, including offshore wind, is essential to meet the overall energy ambition of 70 per cent renewable electricity by 2030, doubling it from a current 35 per cent (alongside Ireland’s obligation to contribute to the EU-wide renewable energy target of 32 per cent by 2030). Likewise, to support the delivery of enhanced climate ambitions of an average 7 per cent reduction in

The plan, the PfG states, will establish how Ireland will achieve 5GW capacity in offshore wind by 2030 on the eastern and southern coasts. Simultaneously, the plan will capitalise on the potential of “at least 30GW of offshore floating wind power in our deeper waters in the Atlantic”, enabling Ireland to become a “major contributor to a pan-European renewable energy generation and transmission system”. Working as part of a collaborative energy-secure north west European system, Ireland’s exporting capability could also be delivered using high voltage direct current (HVDC) cables, using a strong transmission system. “This is all in train; we’ve spent 10 years thinking about it and planning it. The technology has become ever more competitive. The political certainty around it is clear and every party agrees. Every European country is now in a race,” Minister Ryan outlines.

Education Successfully unlocking Ireland’s

Delivering Ireland’s offshore wind ambition offshore wind potential will rely on the development of educational opportunities to build a skilled workforce that can support the offshore industry. “We will have, in the end, some 30,000 people working on that high-skilled craft building work in which there is going to be a consistent steady of work for the next 30 years.

Job creation Utilising existing energy and maritime infrastructure, the Government intends to develop the skills base, supply chains, legislation and infrastructure to facilitate delivery of this plan, which it identifies as an opportunity to create new and skilled jobs. The Environment and Climate Minister emphasises the economic potential that offshore wind ambitions will have for ports around the country, including through the assembly and maintenance of infrastructure. Another benefit he identifies is the prospect of converting the power generated offshore through electrolysis and subsequently using hydrogen to power industry. This entails, he says: “Running digital infrastructure that is essential to the economic progress of the country in a zero-carbon and completely sustainable way.” While Ireland has a pipeline of offshore wind projects (totalling 16GW) sufficient to meet the Government’s decarbonisation ambitions, delivery hinges on two fundamental factors.

Planning Firstly, the necessary planning framework must be implemented to ensure planning permission by the end of 2025, enabling the timely completion of projects by the end of the decade. The Marine Planning and Development Management (MPDM) Bill is intended to establish in law a completely new

offshore wind report

“The MaREI Centre in Cork has real expertise in ocean energy research and in training people for some of the skills we will need in this area. I had a very good meeting with UCD the other day, which has a very strong tradition in power systems analysis and research and now is really extending that, working with other industry partners, colleges, and Science Foundation Ireland to develop this whole-ofsystems approach which is the key to getting this right,” the Minister says.

regime for the maritime area, providing an offshore planning system. In this context, the coalition Government has prioritised the passage of “a balanced and Aarhus Convention compliant” MPDM Bill through the Oireachtas. A commitment to the drafting and enactment of the Bill “within nine months” suggests that it could be delivered by the end of Q1 2021. “We have to be sensitive to environmental and other concerns. We need to give certainty to investors what the planning arising is. This is a very long-term, big investment, so having planning certainty and a planning system is really key,” Minister Ryan remarks. “The Taoiseach has consistently said that the three top priority legislative measures for this government are: the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill, to have a stronger Climate Change Advisory Council and process; the Marine Planning and Development Management Bill; and the Land Development Agency Bill 2020,” the Environment and Climate Minister emphasises.

Transmission capacity Secondly, the transmission capacity of the national grid must be enhanced to integrate power from offshore farms. Current EirGrid’s estimates indicate that the electricity transmission grid on the east coast can accommodate 1.5GW of wind energy, far short of the 5GW

ambition. To meet the 2030 target, infrastructure upgrades must begin imminently.

RESS Meanwhile, the PfG states and Minister Ryan has reiterated that an offshore wind RESS auction will take place in 2021. The Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS), a competitive auction scheme for renewable electricity projects, is intended to provide a platform for the “rapid deployment of onshore and offshore wind projects… at scale”. Suggesting that the offshore auction will be held in the second half of 2021, he says: “This auction system has been working in other European countries to bring down the price of electricity; people are bidding in because the scale is very large, so they can bid in very low. “We will start in the Irish Sea with about 2.5GW of offshore wind. That will be the first step, with construction in the middle of this decade all being well. “We will go further then, with further auctions in the Irish Sea and the Celtic Sea. We will start planning now for the rollout of the really big phase, which is the development of floating offshore wind in the west, north west and south west and at huge scale; Ireland’s sea area is 10 times greater than its land area,” he concludes. 57

Delivering Ireland’s offshore wind ambition

For Ireland’s 7 per cent target, we’re ready offshore wind report

By 2030, we intend to at least double our generation portfolio, installing around 2GW of new offshore wind energy generation at sites in Irish waters over the course of the next decade.

Building up: Delivery of Ireland’s first offshore wind farm of scale at Arklow Bank by 2025 and within the lifetime of this Government will kick-start the offshore wind industry here.

Barry Kilcline, Director of Offshore Wind Development in Ireland at SSE Renewables, says his company is ready to delivery 2GW of offshore wind projects over the next decade to contribute to Ireland’s 7 per cent annual carbon reduction targets.

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offshore, driven by an ambitious Minister for Energy, Climate, and Communications, in Eamon Ryan, but we also have a highly competitive industry similarly clamouring to lay claim to Ireland’s ample but undeveloped seabed.

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Offshore wind is having a global moment. Now is an exciting but highly competitive time to be developing and operating offshore wind. There is worldwide clamour to get a piece of the pie, to invest in sustainable projects, particularly offshore wind.

SSE Renewables is also ambitious for Ireland. We always have been. We’ve been leading the development of renewable energy across this island from the outset, and we are proud to be the leading developer, owner and operator of onshore wind in Ireland. Responding to the climate crisis, with a team of around 1,000 people employed across Ireland, our wind farms have an installed generation capacity of over 2,200MW, powering over 1.5 million homes with green, renewable wind energy.

It is a similarly exciting time for Ireland’s energy sector. Not only do we have ambitious government targets for

We intend to increase this contribution over the next 10 years, and beyond, through our ambition for offshore wind.

In the short term, we’re ready to deliver Ireland’s first offshore wind farm of scale, Phase 2 of the 520MW Arklow Bank Wind Park, by 2025 and within the lifetime of this Government. We will invest between €1 billion and €2 billion to deliver the project, which will help meet the nation’s interim renewable energy target of 1GW of offshore wind by the mid-point of the decade. In turn, the project will decarbonise our environment by 1 per cent annually, making a significant contribution to the annual 7 per cent carbon reduction targets committed to in the Programme for Government. However, the delivery of Ireland’s first offshore wind farm of scale at Arklow by 2025 has far greater significance for our country and our industry as it will finally kick-start the offshore wind industry here. It will send the clearest signal possible to the global offshore wind energy sector, which is hot with competition, that Ireland is finally open for business for offshore wind energy. Arklow Bank Wind Park will also contribute significantly to Ireland’s green economic recovery, delivering much needed jobs and investment. It will deliver €860 million gross value-added (GVA) to the island of Ireland, €430 million of which will be delivered to Wicklow and north Wexford directly. The project will create 10,500 FTE years nationally, 4,800 of which will be local. These figures are substantial, considering the project is being developed in a jurisdiction without any experience in offshore wind, or any established supply chain. Indeed, Arklow Bank Wind Park as a front-runner project in the Irish Sea will act as an offshore wind test case for the State, for the grid and our indigenous supply chain in the first half of this decade.

Delivering Ireland’s offshore wind ambition Looking to the second half of the decade, we expect our subsequent blue sea projects, Braymore Wind Park off the port of Drogheda in the north Irish Sea and Celtic Sea Phase 1 off the Waterford and Suir Estuary, can power Ireland’s push towards 2030 targets and contribute significant gross value added to the national and local economy.

It is off our southern coastline that we are setting our greatest ambitions for Ireland. We expect to be able to deliver the 800MW fixed turbine installed Celtic Sea Phase 1 by 2030, again contributing significantly to Ireland's 5GW target of offshore wind energy by the end of the decade. But delivery of Celtic Sea 1 is just the beginning as it will provide the launch base from which we will develop future additional phases in the Celtic Sea utilising floating offshore wind technology to meet post-2030 targets. To this end, we are actively exploring new optimum Celtic Sea locations off Ireland’s southern coast to build out this floating phase of our project ambitions.

Political will must be converted into administrative action to ensure confidence, investment, green jobs, and the delivery of climate action targets.

offshore wind. Scale and pace of delivery is what is needed now. On all sides of the Oireachtas, parties and independents are in the main supportive of the development of offshore wind. However political will must be converted into administrative action to ensure confidence, investment, green jobs, and the delivery of climate action targets through our own local generation. As time progresses and deadlines in the Climate Action Plan and NECP start to slip, and the pace at which others are working to achieve 2025 starts to slow, we are concerned that our ambition and that of our politicians is not being reflected in the administrative action by others who are integral to defining and establishing the industry. While the world transitions to green energy through offshore wind, global industry is now looking to Ireland to see if it will deliver on the commitments it has made to kickstart the sector. If Ireland does not do so, and those deadlines slip, then the limited global supply chain will move to significantly larger and more established markets which will provide a steady and certain pipeline of scale. Delivering a green recovery, supporting government targets, is in our DNA at SSE Renewables; it’s our bread and butter. We started generating renewable

energy before ‘renewable energy’ as we know it now was defined. We built hydro-powered stations during post World War II in the Scottish Highlands, where our primary role was to create jobs for a devastated country, by generating energy. And we continue to do so, as one of the largest offshore wind developers in the world. We will use our position this year as principal partner for the UN’s COP26 summit to continue to promote a green recovery as a core strategy to underpin efforts to tackle climate change. Because we share the ambitions of the countries in which we work, and our people live. We passionately believe renewables can contribute to at least 70 per cent of Ireland’s energy needs by 2030, as set out in the Government’s Climate Action Plan of 2019, and reiterated in the Programme for Government in 2020. In this year of global climate action culminating at COP26, we’re ready to play our part to kickstart Ireland’s delivery of its offshore wind targets and net zero ambition for everyone.

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Clear direction from government is essential to industry, to give certainty to our own plans, but also to ensure that the global supply chain recognises Ireland as a credible market. At SSE Renewables our investment strategy is built around clear government commitments; 1GW of offshore by 2025 as committed in the Climate Action Plan of 2019 and in the NECP submitted to the EU Commission late last year, and 5GW by 2030 as committed in the Programme for Government.

offshore wind report

Braymore Wind Park is situated in water depths suitable for fixed turbine installations and is located around 18km from both Dunany Point in County Louth at its most northern point and from Braymore Point in County Dublin at its most southern point. SSE Renewables recently secured a Foreshore License to facilitate surveys of the seabed at Braymore to enhance our understanding of met ocean conditions and environmental mapping at the site. We believe Braymore will be capable of generating around 800MW of renewable energy, powering approximately 835,000 homes annually. For context, Louth itself has 43,972 households, according to census data.

W: www.sserenewables.com

Targets are admirable, but we need to deliver on them. 2025 and 2030 are just around the corner in terms of the development cycle required to deliver 59

Delivering Ireland’s offshore wind ambition

offshore wind report

Offshore projects pipeline

In line with the Programme for Government’s scaling up of offshore wind capacity targets, 2020 saw the Irish Government fast track seven offshore renewable projects. The Government announced ‘relevant project’ status for the seven projects in May 2020. With this status the projects will benefit from fast-tracking in construction and implementation. The Climate Action Plan, published in 2019, pledged that Ireland would have 3.5GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030 as part of its drive to deliver 70 per cent of electricity from renewable sources by 2030. The 2020 Programme for Government scaled this target up to 5GW. The seven projects are spread across four wind parks and, when fully installed, will generate over 2GW of capacity.

Oriel Wind Park Currently being developed by the ESB and Belgian company Parkwind, the 370MW Oriel Wind Park will be located off the coast of County Louth and is likely to be the first fully operational commercial farm in Irish waters. The Louth site was chosen due to its water depth, seabed sediments, wind speeds, shelter from high wave loads, low tidal currents and its access to existing grid infrastructure. The project was first granted a conditional Foreshore Lease in 2010, but market conditions delayed construction. Parkwind became the operator of the project in 2018, with ESB joining later. The project is expected to apply for consent from relevant planning authorities in 2021, with the project due to be located between 6km and 22km from the coast.

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Delivering Ireland’s offshore wind ambition

Dublin Array First proposed in 1999, the Dublin Array project comprises two projects that will be located in the Kish and Bray Banks, 10km from the Dublin coast. Led by the German company Innogy Renewables, the project is currently proposing the construction of between 45 and 61 wind turbines, with each individual turbine to have capacities of between 8MW and 15MW. Individual turbine tip heights are projected to be

offshore wind report

between 240 and 310 metres. Total project capacity is projected to be between 600MW and 900MW. In its original conception, the project had considered up to 145 turbines, but footprint concerns have played a part in the reduction. Final decision on the parameters of the project, i.e., exact numbers of turbines and exact capacity, has yet to be taken, with survey activities still ongoing. The project is currently in the environmental assessments, onshore and offshore consent data stage, with the expectation that this will be completed in 2021, allowing the project to move onto the RESS Auction and the submission of an updated application to build and operate. Detailed design, procurement and a final investment decision are projected to be made in 2023. The completion of construction and the commencement of commercial operation date is currently set for 2026.

Codling Wind Park The Codling Wind Park will consist of two projects, Codling I and Codling II. Led by Fred Olsen Renewables of Norway and France’s EDF, the project will be located to the east of the Codling Bank, on the east coast between Greystones and Wicklow Town. The project will be some 13km from the coast and is projected to add at least 1GW of capacity to the grid. Capacity projections of any kind are not yet definite as the projects undertakes “technical, environmental, socioeconomic and commercial studies to determine the maximum installed capacity”. Subject to relevant permissions, the project’s operators say they envisage Codling to be “constructed in the mid-2020s”.

Sceirde Rocks The Sceirde Rocks project is operated by Fuinneamh Sceirde Teoranta, a Galway Gaeltacht-based company in Indreabhán. The project seeks to put an offshore wind farm off the west coast, some 5km to 8km from Carna. The proposed capacity for the project is set at 100MW, the operators having applied for a Foreshore Lease at this power as long ago as 2008. They also applied to EirGrid for a grid connection for 392MW in 2011. As things stand, Sceirde is the only project off the west coast to be given project status by the Government. It will consist of 20 turbines with total height of up to 140m and rotor diameter of up to 120m.

Delivering Ireland’s offshore wind ambition

First offshore wind RESS auction in 2021 offshore wind report

The Programme for Government commits to the deliverance of “at least” 70 per cent renewable electricity by 2030. Key to this will be the first Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS) offshore wind auction, to be held in 2021. The first of the RESS auctions was deemed provisionally successful in August 2020, with the results confirmed in September affirming the awarding of 19 onshore wind and 63 solar projects. The 82 projects will amount to 1,275.56MW. The RESS is a competitive auctionbased scheme that invites renewable energy projects to bid for capacity with a guaranteed price for the amount of power generated for a maximum of 16 years. It will operate for a five-year period to 2025, with extension subject to evaluation. Despite its eligibility for the first RESS auction, offshore wind was held off on and will receive its own ring-fenced capacity in the second auction, due to take place this year. In 2019, then Minister for Communications, Climate Action and the Environment Richard Bruton said that “future auction rounds will deliver a major up-scaling in offshore wind capacity with at least 3.5 gigawatts by the end of 2030”. In 2020, the Government set a new target of 5GW of installed offshore wind

power to be delivered by 2030, which led to SSE Renewables’ Director of Capital Projects, Paul Cooley to estimate that 1GW would need to be installed by 2025 in order to meet this target. Currently, Ireland has 25MW of installed offshore wind capacity at the Arklow Bank Wind park, which will eventually reach a capacity of 520MW, meaning that significant capacity will need to be guaranteed at the RESS auction. The installation of offshore wind farms in the Irish Sea is thought to be key for the meeting of targets set out by the Government within its lifetime as it seeks to build on its own Climate Action Plan and the Programme for Government. While no dates for the auction have been publicly confirmed as yet, steps have been taken towards taking capacity to market, such as the Marine Planning and Development Management Act in 2019 and the offering of grid connections to the legacy projects that had already received planning consent under previous Foreshoring Acts.

The qualification process for the second RESS auction is due to open in quarter two of 2021, with the auction itself also to be held in the same quarter, meaning that the picture around what is ti come in Irish offshore wind should be much clearer by July 2021. With the stepping up of the offshore wind target, from the Climate Action Plan’s aim of 3.5GW to the current 5GW, and the fast-tracking of seven offshore wind farms in 2020, it is clear that there is great hope for what the island can deliver, not only in terms of renewable energy, but also in terms of the jobs created and the native industry the projects will cultivate. Speaking with eolas Magazine, Environment and Climate Minister Eamon Ryan TD said: “We’ll hold an auction towards the end of this year. We will start in the Irish Sea with about 2.5GW of offshore wind. That will be the first step, with construction in the middle of this decade all being well.” If Ireland is to break the 1GW goal by 2025 on its way to 5GW by 2030, all eyes will be on quarter two of 2021 and the first RESS auction where offshore wind will take the centre stage.

12 months to deliver offshore wind There has been a substantial increase in the time and energy the Government is putting into the development of offshore wind.

Credit Orsted.

It needs to include a wide range of Government departments, State agencies and other key stakeholders, particularly coastal and fishing communities.

Walney wind farm, located in the Irish Sea, off the north coast of England.

We are moving in the right direction, but we are walking when we need to be running.

Decisions the Government will make over the next 12

Reinforcing the grid

months will decide whether we can build enough offshore

The single biggest barrier to the development of offshore wind energy is Ireland’s electricity transmission grid. EirGrid estimates that the east coast of Ireland can accommodate approximately 2GW of wind energy, yet the Programme for Government ambition is for 5GW.

wind energy to reach our 2030 climate action targets, writes Wind Energy Ireland CEO David Connolly. At the end of 2020 we published Building Offshore Wind, which shows how the Programme for Government’s target of 5GW of offshore wind energy can be met. The main conclusion was stark. If a project does not have planning permission by the end of 2025 it will not be built by the end of the decade. It means today, as I write, we are on course to fall short of our targets unless immediate action is taken.

In Building Offshore Wind, we made eight recommendations that are essential to enable industry to develop the projects in time. The four most critical are: •

•

start now to develop the transmission system on the east coast to integrate the power from these offshore wind farms; and

•

hold the first offshore wind energy auction as soon as possible in 2021.

Government progress There is some good news. The Oireachtas Housing Committee has reviewed the draft MPDM Bill and a complete Bill could be published in time to make the Q1 deadline. Minister Eamon Ryan has committed to an offshore auction later this year and his officials are clearly determined to meet that target.

Our members will not build wind farms to sit idle. We must get the power to shore. Industry needs to know that EirGrid and ESB Networks will have the support they need to develop the grid and to have the confidence it will be reinforced in time for our wind farms to connect. This work needs to start immediately if it is to be completed in time to ensure the Ireland of 2030 is one that is chiefly powered by renewable energy.

Dr David Connolly is CEO of Wind Energy Ireland T: 045 899 341 E: office@windenergyireland.com W: windenergyireland.com

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The problem is not a lack of projects. We have more than 16GW of offshore wind at some stage of development off our coast but we do not have a planning regime, there is no system for projects to connect to the electricity grid and no way for them to sell their power on the market.

applications and provide An Bord Pleanála with the staff and additional expertise to process applications promptly;

offshore wind report

But the scale of what we are being asked to accomplish is unlike anything ever done in Ireland before. Building 5GW of offshore wind energy in 10 years – in effect creating an entirely new industry from scratch – requires urgent, rapid and coordinated policy development.

enact the Marine Planning and

Development Management (MPDM) Bill by the end of Q1 2021; •

set clear statutory deadlines for decisions on wind farm planning 63

offshore wind report

Getting to net zero: 2030 and beyond

Danielle Conaghan

as the year that marked a revolution in Ireland’s offshore regulatory regime, which catapulted Ireland towards meeting its 2030 targets, write Danielle Conaghan, Partner and Joint Head and Jacinta Conway, Senior Associate, of the Environment and Planning Group, Arthur Cox.

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The Maritime Area Consent (MAC) replacing foreshore leases will be a State property consent only and not a hybrid property and environmental consent. It will give the property right to develop on State territory.

•

An Bord Pleanála will carry out a single Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and a single Appropriate Assessment (AA) as the sole consent authority for determining development consents and all environmental management conditions for offshore and onshore elements of projects.

•

The initially proposed separate and sequential Planning Interest and MAC will now be combined.

Jacinta Conway

How will the year 2021 be remembered? Hopefully,

Much is happening. And fast. The Maritime Area (Planning) Bill (formerly called the Marine Planning and Development Bill) aiming to modernise and streamline development consenting and management of the maritime area is imminent and has priority in the Spring 2021 Legislative Agenda. Separately, The Maritime Jurisdiction Bill will redefine the State’s various maritime zones and modernise its maritime jurisdiction law. The Marine Planning and Development Framework – Ireland’s national plan for the maritime space for the next 20 years – has been consulted on and publication is imminent. Ireland’s Offshore Renewables Energy Development Plan 2014 will shortly be revised and consulted on. The Government has published for public consultation a report on the

•

expansion of Marine Protected Areas which also addresses accommodating the provision of offshore renewable energy developments. For offshore wind specifically, Ireland’s Grid Policy was consulted on last Summer 2020 and it continues to be developed. Relevant Projects for priority consideration have been identified and there are other projects are also capable of contributing to Ireland meeting its 2030 targets. It takes roughly eight years with a fair wind for an offshore wind project to be energised from conception to connection. In that context, three crucial changes are being made under The Maritime Area (Planning) Bill which will streamline the current complicated consenting processes:

Given that a MAC will not be an “environmental consent”, there will be no need or opportunity for judicial review challenges to a MAC on environmental grounds. The fact that An Bord Pleanála will now be the sole consent authority for EIA and AA and for projects will mean that judicial reviews on the traditional “project-splitting” or “environmentalassessment splitting” grounds cannot arise. Now that the Planning Interest and the MAC are to be merged, fewer consents will mean fewer judicial review challenges. Ireland’s 2030 targets will not be met if projects are subject to long-running judicial review challenges. A balance must be struck. It is important that decision-makers carry out their environmental assessments in a lawful manner, but it is equally important that Ireland meets its 2030 targets. Looking beyond 2030, we must also put ourselves in a position whereby we have a prospect of meeting our 2050 climate targets. In this regard, the Climate Action Bill 2020 (also priority for the Spring Legislative Agenda) will amend the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015 to make it Ireland’s objective to transition to a climate neutral economy by the end of 2050, rather than a low carbon economy. Where judicial review challenges are brought, the forum for these challenges

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will be in the High Court Commercial Planning and Strategic Infrastructure Development (SID) List (the List). Certainty in relation to timing of hearing dates and judgments is needed. The same certainty is required in respect of any appeals taken. It is current practice in the List for points of European law not to be decided where a project consent is quashed on Irish law grounds. Points of Irish and European law will have to be determined in any case they arise, otherwise they will continue to be relitigated in respect of all project consents. Further legislative changes are required.

Judicial review challenges should be restricted to individuals affected by project consents. Our system is unique in the extensive rights it gives people to challenge environmental decisions. The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that a national procedural law limiting the scope of the right to participate in environmental decisions to “interested parties” whose interests are directly affected by the decision is compatible with the Aarhus Convention, in terms of public participation and access to justice (Case C–826/18, delivered on 14 January 2021). It is therefore open to the State to legislate for this and be in compliance with the Aarhus Convention.

Matters of form rather than substance should not result in decisions being declared invalid.

suggested that a judicial review should not be allowed for certain insubstantial deficiencies – i.e., clerical, or typographical errors, unintentional errors or omissions etc. – unless it can be shown that an applicant has previously applied for rectification of the deficiency and was wrongly refused that relief. It is there to be enacted.

The issue of “grass verge” ownership requires further attention to facilitate gridlaying Landowner consent for a non-SID grid connection is not now required to submit a planning permission to lay cables in, on, over or under a public road if they will be provided by statutory undertakers having a right or interest to provide certain services. This change was made in the Planning and Development (Amendment) Regulations 2021 passed on 15 January 2021. But the old problem of landowner consent being required was not fixed where “grass verge” landowners

do not give consent to development on the grass verges. So, possibilities for injunctions and trespass actions to flourish continue. If the State legislated that the value of land constituting a grass verge or public road shall be taken to be ‘nil’, unless a landowner can prove otherwise, claims would diminish or vanish. Such a provision exists for pipelaying for water connections.

Danielle Conaghan

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A multitude of judicial review challenges have resulted in project consents being “lost” because of simple mistakes in wording used where an AA Screening and AA has been carried out. In several cases, these mistakes had no bearing on the substantive assessments carried out by the decision-maker – i.e., the project’s impacts and effects on protected European sites were assessed in the manner required by European law but the words used in describing the nature of the assessment carried out or how it was carried out were not correct. Words matter, but it is an assessment’s quality which matters most in achieving the objectives of Habitats and Birds Directives. A proposal in the General Scheme on the Housing and Planning and Development Bill 2019 published for consultation in December 2019

“Ireland’s 2030 targets will not be met if projects are subject to long-running judicial review challenges. A balance must be struck. It is important that decision-makers carry out their environmental assessments in a lawful manner, but it is equally important that Ireland meets its 2030 targets.”

Partner, Environment and Planning Group T: +353 1 920 1082 E: danielle.conaghan@arthurcox.com Jacinta Conway Senior Associate, Environment and Planning Group T: +353 1 920 1775 E: jacinta.conway@arthurcox.com W: www.arthurcox.com 65

offshore wind report

Delivering Ireland’s offshore wind ambition

Offshore wind: An international perspective In setting out a target of 5GW of offshore development by 2030, Ireland has outlined an ambition to be a world leader in renewable energy and has the opportunity to learn lessons from the offshore pacesetters. Ireland’s onshore wind development has moved at pace and is central to progress of renewables on to the electricity system. Onshore wind will continue to be the major player in terms of renewable generation up to and beyond 2050 but if Ireland is to reach a target of net zero carbon by 2050, it is recognised that significant development of offshore wind and other emerging technologies will be required. The Programme for Government raised the ambition for offshore development from 3.5GW to 5GW for 2030 on Ireland’s eastern and southern coasts and set a vision for a potential 30GW on the western coast out to 2050. Industry leaders have stressed the

importance of Ireland meeting the Climate Action Plan target of 1GW to be delivered by 2025 if the 2030 target is to be reached and pointed to the need to prioritise trigger projects in the planned offshore-dedicated RESS auction in 2021. The Irish Government has embraced a phased approach to offshore development, seeing the value in targeting nearshore and shallow water offshore deployment on the east coast for fast deployment. The south coast, where the water gets deeper quickly, will form a second phase, with a wider range of technology required, including fixed beds and floating. The greatest challenge will be Ireland’s west coast,

where a range of limitations, not least grid absence, wave height and access limitations will require a reliance on technology innovation and emergence in the coming decades. While Ireland aims to be a global leader in renewable energy and harness the potential of renewable electricity exportation, it is not an early pacesetter in the deployment of offshore wind technology. The Government will seek to learn from the pathways taken by other countries, not least the UK, but must also recognise an increase in competition in the offshore global market, where skills, investment, vessels and turbine availability will become squeezed.

Delivering Ireland’s offshore wind ambition

offshore wind report

A global leader in offshore wind, the UK will serve as an exemplar to Ireland’s deployment. The UK currently has the largest installed capacity of offshore wind in the world, with over 10GW in operation off its coasts, however, it took some 15 years to get from initial deployment to get to its first 5GW. Generation from offshore wind made up around 10 per cent of UK electricity in 2020, equivalent to powering 4.5 million homes and now represents one of the lowest cost options for new power in the UK, with prices falling by 50 per cent since 2015. The UK Government has recently increased its own 2030 targets from 30GW to 40GW, with the ambition to produce enough electricity from offshore wind to power every home and to make offshore the country’s biggest energy source. The Build Back Greener initiative includes a new target to deliver 1GW of floating offshore wind by 2030.

China China has the fastest growing offshore wind sector, globally. A Global Wind Energy Council report estimates that China accounted for 40 per cent of the globally added offshore capacity in 2019 and now has around 23 per cent of the world’s offshore wind capacity. China intends to add a further 52GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030 to its existing 5.9GW generation. Currently China holds 94 per cent of Asia’s total offshore wind capacity. China has over 18,000km of coastline and current resources are concentrated on the south-east coast and China’s islands. Its economic activity is concentrated on its coasts. However, China’s electricity from renewable sources is still dominated by onshore wind, most of which is located in the north of the country and requires transportation. Land scarcity and grid connection challenges have driven the push towards offshore.

Germany The German Government, in line with enhanced European Commission aspirations, has outlined plans to reach 40GW of offshore wind power capacity by 2040. Currently, Germany generates around 7.5GW of electricity from offshore wind but has outlined a 20GW target for 2030 as a stepping stone to its 2040 ambitions. Germany constructed its first commercial offshore wind farm in 2009 in the Baltic Sea and currently boasts over 20 offshore wind farms between it and the North Sea. However, a slowdown in Germany’s offshore expansion has been recorded with 1,400 new offshore wind turbines added in 2020 compared to 1,800 in 2017. In response the German Bundestag passed an amendment to the Wind Energy at Sea Act (WindSeeG) in late 2020 to provide for an expansion of offshore in the coming years, not least a target of average annual generation and grid capacity increases of 2GW from 2030 to 2040. Interestingly, the increase in offshore wind generation capacity is envisaged through cooperation with other EU member states bordering the North and Baltic seas, including the potential of opening auctions for wind farms located in territorial waters.

Belgium Belgium now ranks fourth behind the UK, Germany and China in terms of installed offshore wind capacity. The completion of the 497MW SeaMade project, the largest windfarm in the Belgian North Sea, saw Belgium reach an installed capacity of 2.3GW. Despite a smaller population size than its counterparts of other leading offshore wind countries and relatively limited marine territory, Belgium’s current installed capacity represents around 10 per cent of total electricity consumption in the country. Having first began offshore development in 2009, a delay was recognised in 2015 and 2016 due to social acceptance challenges with a land-based connection but was later resolved. After over a year of government formation talks, a coalition government was formed in late 2020 and has set out an ambition to double the country’s offshore wind capacity to 4GW to 2030.

Delivering Ireland’s offshore wind ambition

Underpinning offshore: Marine Planning and Development Management Bill Enforcement has been deemed necessary to undertake enforcement

offshore wind report

and compliance functions in respect of planning decisions for offshore development and Maritime Area Consents. The Bill’s overall objective is to establish in law a single consent principle and to replace existing State and development consent regimes. The Bill is expected to underpin Ireland’s ambitious renewable

The Government will establish an Office of Marine Development Enforcement as part of its forthcoming Bill, set to underpin sustainable offshore renewable energy resources.

energy targets by facilitating the development of offshore energy. An increase in national carbon reduction ambitions includes a target of 70 per cent electricity from renewables by 2030, including the development of around 5GW of offshore renewable energy. The offshore portfolio is

The legal text of the Marine Planning and Development Management Bill is currently being finalised and is expected to be brought to the Oireachtas before the end of March 2021.

envisaged in the scheme, the Maritime Area Consent provisions will enable flexibility to manage different maritime usages without the need for additional specific legal text.

The Government approved the General Scheme of the Bill in December 2019, but policy development and issues identified in the drafting process have led to a number of changes being made to the State consent regime.

year, with the Government expected to

The changes have removed duplication of relevant procedures and legal text by combining the planning interest and maritime area consent procedures into a single process, which will be concluded prior to the submission of the development consent application.

Interestingly, the Government has recognised the requirement to “future proof” the Bill and allow for agility. By setting out certain details in schedules, such as assessment criteria, the Government believes it can enable easy amendment in response to emergent need and allow for the integration of other maritime usages into the consenting regime in future, given the current focus on offshore renewable energy projects, interconnectors, and telecommunications cables.

Additionally, unlike what was originally

An Office of Marine Development

date of March 2021.

expected to accelerate as Ireland looks towards a target of net zero carbon by 2050. Following the first RESS auction in 2020, the first dedicated offshore auction has been scheduled for this support generation of 2.5GW of power in the Irish Sea. The Bill is designed to secure the objectives of the National Marine Planning Framework (NMPF), which provides the spatial and policy context for decisions about the maritime area. Described as the ‘sister document’ of the National Planning Framework (NPF), the Department aim to meet the EU Commission’s NMPF submission

Marine Planning and Development Management Bill: Next steps

•

develop new provisions to establish an Office of Marine Development Enforcement;

•

identify administrative enabling measures (such as agreements between state entities in how they engage with the system);

•

finalise the legal text of the Bill;

•

enactment of Bill following legislative process through the Oireachtas;

•

develop Maritime Area Consent documents;

•

produce operational procedures; and

develop necessary regulations;

•

publish guidance material for applicants.

The need for public buy-in Project Ireland 2040 finally arrived to great fanfare in Sligo on the 20 offshore wind report

February 2018. It is a very ambitious plan totalling €116 billion which reimagines and prepares Ireland for the future, writes Colm McGrath, Managing Director of Surety Bonds. The publication covers major areas such as housing, infrastructure, health, education, energy, environmental issues, technology, culture and heritage and, finally, Ireland’s security. The plan hopes to put certainty into a range of markets, not least the future of Ireland’s energy and renewable energy sector.

Brexit. Yes, they can blame Covid-19

The Irish Government across multiple sectors relies too heavily on private industry to rectify long standing issues such as housing, transport and energy. There is a lack of long-term investment strategy due to our parochial political nature. Project Ireland 2040 and the Climate Action Plan 2019 are high-level wish lists, in my opinion it looks like the Government is using the 2040 plan to kick as many infrastructural, energy, transport and environmental projects as they can down the road. The delay in progressing many of these projects is detrimental to a country which is facing uncertainty due to Covid shock and

means encouraging and incentivising

but much of these projects should be in planning or shovel-ready. In conclusion, it is imperative that stakeholders along the value chain; the public, individual companies, the energy industry as a whole and the government should take action to move the industry forward. The Government, as a key project owner should create a fertile environment for the transformation of the renewable energy sector. That the public’s buy-in on microgeneration, offshore wind, wind farms and solar. The last thing we want is a decade of delayed planning permission from all in sundry objecting to crucial developments and projects.

Colm McGrath, Managing Director T: 071 962 3228

Advertorial

A year or so on and Ireland’s Climate Action Plan was delivered in July 2019; not some much fanfare this time around as a lack of conviction probably dictated the low-key affair. The objective of this plan was to facilitate Ireland’s reduction of carbon emissions by 30 per cent between 2021 and 2030 and lay the foundations for achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050. The EU targets, if not met, will cost the State tens of millions due to the cost of purchasing carbon credits and fines. The sceptic in me thinks this might just be the Government’s strategy as long as it flies under the radar. The powers that be do not have the gumption to change planning legislation that would allow for many large- and small-scale projects to be delivered in a timely manner.

2005. Two binding EU targets were: 16 per cent of all energy use must come from renewables and 10 per cent of energy use in the transport sector must be renewable. By the end of 2019, Ireland had only succeeded in delivering 12 per cent as a gross of final energy consumption, the figure will be somewhat the same for 2020, which is well below target, with transport coming in at circa 7.2 per cent based on an SEAI 2018 report and no sign of improvement.

E: colm@suretybonds.ie W. www.suretybonds.ie

But back to the present: 2021 is looking a little grim for our energy efficiency targets, by 2020 Ireland’s energy savings target should have been equal to 20 per cent of the historic average energy use during the period 2000-

offshore wind report

Offshore wind: An emerging feature of Irish M&A activity that is here to stay

Advertorial

Energy demand growth, strong policy support and an increasing amount of capital seeking investments in renewables, coupled with corporates and utilities transitioning from brown to green power has led to offshore wind becoming an increasingly prominent feature in the Irish mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market. Russell Smyth and James Delahunt of KPMG consider what is driving this change. Renewable M&A markets remained active in 2020 2020 was a challenging year for business across all sectors and this certainly fed into overall levels of M&A activity in the market. The operational, financial and economic challenges brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic 70

resulted in significantly reduced opportunities to meet counterparties, inspect assets or businesses or indeed have the internal deal team capacity, given that management’s short term focus and time was spent on navigating the immediate issues brought about by the impact Covid had on existing operations.

While M&A activity in particular sectors such as consumer, retail and aviation were severely impacted, one sector which has proven more resilient is renewables. Notwithstanding the pandemic, the favourable policy backdrop such as the Climate Action Plan and the Irish government’s commitment to achieving 70 per cent

As well as resilience, the renewables M&A market has also shown increased diversity over the last year, with the traditional dominance of onshore wind, giving way to solar, battery storage and offshore wind transactions also. Traditionally, operational or development onshore wind assets dominated renewable energy M&A in Ireland. In more recent times this has been complemented by a greater level of activity in technologies such as solar, where developers sought to introduce investment partners in advance of RESS, or offshore wind projects sought scale investors to assist in the significant development demands of these largescale projects.

Renewable energy targets and growth in energy demand As well as renewable demand growth driven by Ireland’s ‘70 by 30’ RES-E target, overall energy demand itself is also forecast to expand, driven by expansion of large energy users, growth in electric vehicles and the development of new data centres. According to EirGrid the forecast all-island energy demand growth for the next 10 years is expected to be up to 47 per cent.

What is driving interest in offshore? While historically viewed as an emerging and higher risk sub-sector, technological improvements and proven track record

It is also noteworthy that the profile of investors for offshore wind in Ireland varies from the traditional investment funds that have dominated the onshore wind renewable M&A landscape over recent years. Given that Irish offshore wind projects are still a number of years from reaching operational stage and therefore generating cashflows, investing in an offshore project clearly would not suit a financial investor such as a pension fund looking for a yield on capital in the immediate term. Instead, investment in earlier stage offshore development projects has been dominated by specific development focused funds or more commonly in an Irish M&A context, domestic and international utilities. Utilities worldwide are transitioning from brown to green power and offshore is an ideal asset class where they can leverage their in-house technical expertise with more patient capital to gain access to large scale projects to make a significant dent in their own internal renewable energy targets. To date, this has manifested itself through two types of transaction in the offshore wind sector in Ireland: investment in existing Relevant Status Projects by a utility; and development teams partnering with an investor to source, identify and develop new greenfield projects. Examples of investments in Relevant Projects have included Parkwind and ESB’s investment in OrieI windfarm, Innogy’s investment in the Dublin Array project, where it is partnering with Saorgus Energy; and EDF’s acquisition of a stake in Codling Wind Park from Hazel Shore Limited. Separately, we see development teams with expertise in offshore wind being sought after by domestic and international utilities and oil and gas majors seeking to invest in renewable projects. One deal already announced in 2021 is Shell’s partnership with Simply

Blue. This is a fantastic endorsement of an Irish-based team with international experience, as well as an encouraging demonstration of an oil major continuing its commitment to the energy transition. What is particularly interesting about these types of partnerships is that the developers remain at a very early stage of project development. The fact that they have attracted investment demonstrates great confidence both in the teams themselves and Ireland’s commitment to the development of a robust onshore wind sector.

What does the future of offshore M&A look like? To understand what the future of offshore wind M&A looks like in Ireland, we can look across the Irish Sea to the UK, which is a more mature market with a healthy pipeline of both development and operational assets. A particularly active part of the market is secondary trades of operational projects. Supply and demand has pushed down investor IRR’s, with operational assets now trading at below a 7 per cent levered IRR and showing no signs of the return to premiums previously commanded over onshore assets. Pension funds, traditionally active in the onshore wind M&A space, are increasingly investing in operational offshore projects and viewing them as cornerstones of their portfolios. With the renewable agenda only getting stronger, the outlook for offshore wind M&A activity over the coming years remains strong.

Russell Smyth Partner, KPMG Sustainable Futures and Head of Energy Advisory Ireland russell.smyth@kpmg.ie

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If Ireland is to meet its 2030 RES-E objectives it is clear that onshore wind and solar alone will not be sufficient. Offshore will therefore be a critical component of the renewable energy mix, and this will require significant capital investment to deliver.

across the UK and Europe means offshore wind is now considered a mainstream and highly investable asset class. Furthermore, given the wall of capital now chasing renewable investments more generally, offshore wind provides an opportunity to deploy large sums of capital against a proven, long-term asset.

offshore wind report

RES-E by 2030 meant that investors retained confidence that the energy transition would remain front and centre on the policy agenda long after the pandemic eventually passes. Furthermore, the lack of returns in other more traditional investment products, including bonds and savings, and volatility in the stock market, has made stable renewable assets with government-backed incomes even more attractive.

James Delahunt Associate Director, KPMG Sustainable Futures, Renewable M&A Lead james.delahunt@kpmg.ie www.kpmg.ie

Delivering Ireland’s offshore wind ambition

Offshore education and skills allocation of trainees in 2019.

offshore wind report

During the construction phase of an offshore windfarm, there is a significant role for turbine suppliers. Then, during the operations phase, an average offshore windfarm requires around 80 staff, with additional needed staff needed during maintenance phases. This 80-strong staff primarily consists of turbine technicians, engineers, boat crew, stores staff, management and operations staff.

The delivery of 5GW of offshore wind before 2030, as stated in the Programme for Government, will create a significant number of native industry jobs, which will first require

full-time equivalent jobs. Scaling up to 5GW, assuming an identical scale of person-days and full-time equivalence to GW, these figures would reach 22,473,270 and 30,453, respectively, with the largest amounts of work coming in the manufacturing, installation and connection and operation and maintenance stages.

Across 20 occupation groupings relevant to offshore split across larger categories such as science and engineering, business and financial and transport and logistics, SOLAS identifies shortages in 11, with the potential for shortages identified in a further two. The shortages identified in engineering will be especially worrying given its prevalence in offshore operation, but recent significant upticks in apprenticeship numbers are a cause for hope in that area.

Such large-scale developments and employment numbers demand a skilled workforce in an area which has had no significant presence within the Irish economy and job landscape until very recently. Such a lack of relevant skills in the domestic workforce means that programmes such as the Kerry Training Board Wind Turbine Maintenance Technician Traineeship will be especially important in this decade. The traineeship is a 38-week course provided by the Kerry Training Board in wind turbine training, with the first

Industrial electrical engineering and manufacturing engineering (both level 6 and 7) have all seen new apprenticeship schemes founded since 2017, while mechanical automation and maintenance fitting, metal fabrication, sheet metalworking and toolmaking all saw increases in apprentice population of at least 64 per cent between 2012 and 2017. Attention will now turn to the hopes for a government skills strategy focussed on the area as Ireland looks to fully harness all the potential benefits of a domestic offshore wind industry.

serious education and upskilling efforts. The large-scale development of offshore wind that is due to take place in Ireland is expected to create over 20,000 employment opportunities during the lifecycle of these projects (until 2055), with at least 675 permanent, high skill jobs over the 25-year operational phase. A report by the Carbon Trust published in 2020 states that there is the potential for 2,532 direct jobs to be created in Ireland during the development and construction of offshore wind projects and a further 1,312 jobs to be created during the projects’ decommissioning stage. Given that these numbers were formulated before the Programme for Government raised Ireland’s 2030 offshore goals from 3.5GW to 5GW, the numbers will only rise. The same report estimates the workforce required to deliver 3.5GW to be 15,731,289 person-days and 21,380 72

Shortages in the workforce have been identified in a wide range of areas affecting the operation of offshore projects, including engineering, financial services and logistics. With offshore development and subsequent operations broadly broken down into six supply chain areas (development and consent, procurement and manufacturing, installation and commissioning, operations and maintenance, and decommissioning), a wide range of skills will be needed for full implementation of offshore wind power.

Irish Climate Summit 2021 29th April 2021 • Online conference Climate governance in Ireland is at an exciting juncture. Environment and climate policy was a crucial battleground of the government formation talks in 2020 which heralded a new Programme for Government, incorporating the Green New Deal mission. One major component of this mission is the introduction of a Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill, which will establish the national 2050 climate objective in law. Meanwhile, in the international sphere, the dawn of the Biden presidency, with its focus on the climate crisis backed by assertive executive action, will place the US on an irreversible trajectory towards net-zero by 2050. Simultaneously, the European Commission’s proposal for the first European Climate Law, aiming to legislative for the European Green Deal ambition for a climate neutral Europe by 2050 has been submitted to the European Parliament for consideration. In this context, the 2021 conference, organised by Environment Ireland, will examine the latest ambitions, challenges and opportunities of Ireland’s response to the climate crisis.

Key issues to be examined:

Speakers confirmed so far…

 National climate objectives

Eamon Ryan TD Minister, Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications

Mark Carney UN Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance

Frans Timmermans Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal, European Commission (Invited)

Oisín Coghlan Director, Friends of the Earth Ireland

Beth Doherty Sustainability Officer, Irish Second Level Students Union

Sabrina Dekker Climate Action Coordinator Dublin City Council

Marie Donnelly Chair, Climate Change Advisory Council

Peadar Kirby Cloughjordan Ecovillage

 The role of local government in responding to climate change

Brian Leddin TD Chair, Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action (Invited)

Róisín Commane Atmospheric Scientist Columbia University

 Community-led transitioning to a lowcarbon future

Phil Kearney Chair, An Taisce

Mary Robinson First woman President of Ireland; former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; and Chair of The Elders

 Stronger climate governance  Youth climate activism in Ireland  The European Commission’s first European Climate Law  An enhanced role for the Climate Change Advisory Council  Work of the Oireachtas Climate Action Committee  Promoting environmental awareness  Investing in net-zero climate solutions  Just transition and climate justice

 Covid-19, emissions, and air quality  International climate politics

(Invited)

Online

www.irishclimatesummit.ie

By email

registration@environmentireland.ie

By telephone

+353 (0) 1 661 3755

Building a better working world

Environment and climate report

Sponsored by

environment and climate report

Building a better working world

ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE MINISTER EAMON RYAN TD:

Doubling the ambition After nine years, Minister Eamon Ryan TD is back in charge of the environment and climate portfolio and is determined to set Ireland on its course to a decarbonised future. Ciarán Galway sits down with the Minister to discuss ambition, a just transition and the draft Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Bill. “Thrilled” and “glad” to be back in government, unsurprisingly Eamon Ryan regards the environment and climate portfolio as “the most fascinating and important brief” because it combines technology and innovation with new employment and economic opportunity, alongside

environmental and social responsibility.

“My sense is ‘roll up the sleeves’; it’s a

With simultaneous responsibility for the

matter of delivery and working with

transport portfolio, the Minister stresses

officials to keep on track of what is

the synergy between the two

working and needs to be delivered,

departments, emphasising the

while bringing in new ambitions and

“progressive agenda” required to deliver

ideas. That’s what I’ve been at for the

“real change”.

last seven months,” he outlines.

Building a better working world are a dozen transformative initiatives that could be delivered between the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications and the Department of Transport. “If you were to deliver any one of those projects in your lifetime, you would be very proud. If you deliver all 12, then it would be of real significance,” Ryan suggests.

• implementation of the Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy; • delivery of renewable electricity to achieve the target of 70 per cent renewables by 2030, including the delivery of 5GW of offshore wind by 2030; • expansion and incentivisation of microgeneration; • delivery of the National Home Retrofit Scheme; • completion of the Bord na Móna Bog Rehabilitation Scheme; • development of a national land use policy plan; • building of metropolitan railway systems for Limerick, Cork, Galway and Waterford; and • development of a more sustainable pattern of development.

Priorities

The Programme for Government committed to an ambitious target of an average 7 per cent annual reduction in overall greenhouse gas emissions from 2021 to 2030 (a 51 per cent reduction over the decade) and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. “That is beyond compare and that affects everything and involves everyone. The existing Climate Action Plan was well written on the back of a lot of good collaborative politics over the last three years, but we’re doubling the ambition,” Ryan states. Indicating that the coalition Government is bringing a new sense of “ambition, scale, speed and urgency” to climate action, the Minister explains that there

According to Ryan, the environmental agenda “will only work when it delivers a better economy in the here and now”. Therefore, the message that the Minister promotes is not solely focused on saving the planet. Instead, the message, he argues, must be brought home. For him, this means emphasising greater energy efficiency in homes and less air pollution, safer active travel options, a transport system that facilitates a sense of community and the microgeneration of renewable power to the net benefit of household balance sheets. “[The environmental agenda] won’t work if it’s just a technological fix which maintains the current economic system whereby those who are doing very well do even better and those at the bottom don’t get a leg up. It has to be a better economy, a new economy in every way. I know this seems kind of clichéd, but it

Drawing attention to analysis conducted by the ESRI that concluded that Budget 2021 was an “overall distributionally progressive budget”, Ryan asserts: “It’s also very green. We have never spent money like that before.”

Land use

environment and climate report

Policy priorities identified by the Minister include the:

is true: the Covid crisis is an opportunity to build back better. That building back better is green,” he contends.

Almost one-fifth of Ireland’s national land area is categorised as peatland, much of which has been drained over the previous seven decades. In its natural state, living peatland acts as a carbon sink. As such, draining peatlands releases carbon, largely as carbon dioxide. “In large areas of bogland, the large cutaway bogs, it is a matter of rewetting and stopping the release of carbon and restoring biodiversity. There will be a lot of forestry and other sophisticated opportunities out of that. Planting reeds, using species, such as alder, to develop wood supplies that are in sync with the peatlands,” Ryan explains. Meanwhile, in marginal uplands and other peatlands, Ryan outlines why seasonal livestock grazing should continue to support habitats which have thrived alongside human activity. “If you didn’t graze it, you would have natural restoration of birch and other trees which would drain the land and raise a lot of carbon. So, there will be some sheep and cattle on Irish hills which, through their grazing, act as climate champions. The beef from those cows can be marketed as really low carbon because of their role in storing carbon.” Likewise, sustainable forestry in Ireland is a store for carbon dioxide and as such is component of climate change mitigation. Indeed, the national forest estate is a sink for over 312 million tonnes of carbon. However, at 11 per cent, Ireland also has the lowest forest cover in Europe (though this has increased from between 1 and 2 per cent at the beginning of the 20th century). Existing government policy aims to increase national forest cover to 17 per cent by 2030. “We need to change the entire forestry model,” Ryan concedes, adding: “We need to move towards continuous cover, close-to-nature forest

4 77

Building a better working world management and forestry which is rich in biodiversity. That forestry will be much more employment rich; it’s much more sophisticated.

environment and climate report

“It’s not just monoculture, clearfell and replant. It’s longer-term, where you’re taking wood supply out on a continuous basis and opening areas within the forest to allow natural seeding to take place and allow the forest to grow. Doing it that way has real benefits, including high-quality timber, really rich employment and a much more attractive environment; not the shadowing out and isolation of rural communities surrounded by monoculture, dense, dead and dark clear fell forests.” If Ireland adopts this new model of forestry, Ryan suggests that, by the end of this century, “we should be aiming at 30 per cent of land in forestation”. “Within that, is agroforestry where you’re including small pockets of forestry on farmers’ lands, to bring that diversity of income. That’s my vision of where we need to go,” he says.

Agriculture Cognisant of the fact that major environment and climate ambitions are fed by local projects and micro decisions, Ryan emphasises the need to be collaborative. “If we wave the finger at people and tell them that ‘you’re bad, you’re not doing it right and you’re the problem’ who is going to listen or want to be part of that? Ireland works well when all of us feel part of the vision. In the battle to stop climate change and

restore biodiversity, that is the right approach. “The farmers on the frontline are as important as scientists in their labs. They’re the key people who can see what is happening, can effect change and in doing so will have a future for their children and grandchildren on the same land.” One major challenge facing Ireland’s climate ambitions is convincing 120,000 farmers on the profitability of using less fertilisers and more smart farming techniques to deliver high-quality, lowcarbon produce which is conducive to biodiversity and animal welfare. “They have to have to have better income by doing that,” Ryan contends, adding: “Farming is not well paid at the moment. It is for a small number in the more intense dairying sector, but for the vast majority of farmers in the beef, sheep and other industries, such as horticulture and tillage, they’re not making much money. We have to make sure that they are paid for the environmental services that they are going to be critical to the delivery of. That will benefit us all.” In the Minister’s analysis, a more sustainable and less intensive system of farming requires two changes: the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy and a change in the business model of large food companies, which are increasingly being held to new accounting standards.

“[The environmental agenda] won’t work if it’s just a technological fix which maintains the current economic system whereby those who are doing very well do even better and those at the bottom don’t get a leg up…” 78

“What I am saying to those food companies is that they need to start working with and paying the farming community better for delivering the environmental services that allows them to say, in a transparent way, ‘our Scope 3 emissions are as good as you can get’.”

Just transition Reiterating his assertion that a just transition is a vital component of environment and climate policy, the Minister critiques the prevailing neoliberal economic system and market fundamentalism. “‘The market knows best’? There is no longer a consensus on that anywhere and correctly so. It’s not the way to go. Markets have to serve society, not us serve them,” he argues. Just transition necessitates a series of economic and social interventions to pivot from carbon intensive activity to a low-carbon economy and mitigate the subsequent impact on employment, community, and services. In November 2019, the then Environment Minister, Richard Bruton TD, appointed Kieran Mulvey as the first Just Transition Commissioner to engage with people in the Midlands as the first region in experiencing such a transition.

Building a better working world “With the closure of the peat plants and cessation of peat harvesting at Bord na Móna, the Midlands will be first community that’s going to require us to provide alternative investment and alternative employment. We have 63 projects which were approved for funding to help generate new enterprise through communities, businesses, and others.

• establish the 2050 emissions target in law; • introduce a system of five-year carbon budgets; • enhance the role of the Climate Change Advisory Council in proposing carbon budgets; • introduce annual revisions of the Climate Action Plan and prepare a National Long Term Climate Action Strategy every decade at a minimum; • require Local Authorities to prepare individual Climate Action Plans; and

of its impending enactment to TK Whitaker’s First Programme for Economic Expansion, Ryan reflects: “Whitaker’s plan worked because the policy measures needed to deliver it received 20 years of attention in the Public Service… The Climate Bill is a moment like that. This is what we need to do. This is the change of direction now.”

environment and climate report

“Similarly, we invested €130 million in the rewetting of 33,000 hectares of Midlands bogs to store carbon, restore biodiversity and create over 300 jobs using the exact same skills that we have previously used to extract the peat. It’s a really good example of how we can switch, and it won’t stop there,” Ryan insists.

Government’s Climate Action Bill is intended to:

While the Climate Bill will outline the direction of travel, the Environment Minister affirms that the substantive movement must be delivered by the political system, the Public Service and the Irish people. “In the Public Service and the political system, we have a particular honour because we are

“‘The market knows best’? There is no longer a consensus on that anywhere and correctly so. It’s not the way to go. Markets have to serve society, not us serve them.” All-island

• provide for an enhanced oversight role for the Oireachtas.

steering it. We have to make some of the choices.

The border remains a potential Achilles heel of Irish climate policy. Unilateral implementation of climate action initiatives in Ireland, north or south, has the potential of creating a backdoor by which initiatives such as a ban on smoky fuels or a ban on the sale of internal combustion engine vehicles could be circumvented.

However, the draft Bill received scathing criticism for its ambiguous language, an absence of clear accountability on targets and insufficient ambition. Asked if the Bill has been rushed, Ryan states: “We set ourselves a target of 100 days to get the Bill out. That was a political commitment that I wanted to meet.”

“To the Public Service, the first thing we need to say: ‘Don’t be afraid of failure. Don’t be afraid of taking a risk and it going wrong.’ As long as it is with the imperative of transforming our economy in this way for the future. We should be able to afford learn-by-doing; praising and promoting those who are showing that sort of creative vision and initiative.”

The Minister indicates that such efforts should be coordinated on an all-island basis to ensure a consistency of standards. “One of the areas where I think there is consensus on the benefit of cooperation, north and south, is in energy, in environmental standards and in creating this platform where we can show ourselves to be a green island and get the benefits from that, collectively, north and south. In health, employment, and economic opportunities,” he maintains.

Draft Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill Published in October 2020, the Committee on Climate Action published a report on its pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Climate Action Bill in late December. When enacted, the

Indicating that he “wasn’t in any way precious” about the Bill, the Minister reiterates his belief in cross-party collaboration on climate policy. “I think [the Climate Committee] did a very good job. Brian Leddin TD, the chair of the committee, did really well to get everyone together to issue their report. We’re working on that now and will come back to introduce a series of amendments – we won’t be accepting every amendment – but a good chunk of them we will. I think that will improve and strengthen the Bill,” he says. Warning against being drawn into a politically divisive argument, Ryan insists: “We cannot afford to do that. We cannot afford to wait; we need to be collaborative.” For the Environment Minister, however, the focus of the Public Service is as important as the Bill itself. Having previously equated the potential impact

Ambition Reflecting on his ambitions for policy delivery in the lifetime of this government, the Environment Minister outlines several specific initiatives. These include: the construction of Ireland’s first offshore wind turbines; hundreds of thousands of people choosing to commute to work and school “in a way that is safe, gives people great freedom and saves them money”; the delivering of BusConnects in Dublin as well as Cork, Galway, Waterford and Limerick; the deep retrofitting of 50,000 houses annually; a national land use plan; and a plastic bottle Deposit and Return Scheme. “Those and more need to be delivered in the next four years,” Ryan concludes. 79

Building a better working world

environment and climate report

What if we could engage everyone to increase climate action and sustain sustainability? emissions, etc. are a threat to human health. A potentially insatiable demand for EVs could place untold pressures on these countries and global supply chains, heralding abuses, scandals and ultimately, a failure to result in a more sustainable and environmentally robust world. Even if we disregard the potential human consequences mentioned above, we should at least consider the resilience of a move to EVs, where the global supply chains would be exposed to policy or other changes within these countries. If cobalt and lithium mining were suddenly significantly curtailed, what would this mean for mass EV adoption?

Some might say we have climate action tunnel vision. Like a weary driver on a long dark road, drifting off at the wheel, we want to pull over, but we can’t. The road is all we can see, not the destination, writes Stephen Prendiville, Head of Sustainability, EY Ireland. Advertorial

Just like the weary driver, this way of moving forward cannot continue when it comes to sustainability and climate action. We need to pull over, get a good night’s sleep, and start afresh. But we can’t blindly rush to the destination, climate action cannot come at the expense of the sustainability of our global world. One example I will use is that of the desire to electrify our transportation networks. Yes, electric vehicles are a part of the climate action answer. The 80

potential to replace all fossil fuel-based vehicles with electric, that can then be energised through renewables, is a very attractive proposition. Yes, electric vehicles are a means of cleaning our transport emissions, but if we go with the notion that every vehicle currently on the road just gets replaced with an EV, then we have missed the point. EVs require metals and minerals to produce them (just like current cars), which can often be mined in countries where their environments, biodiversity,

Instead, a transition to EVs must be complemented by a policy of moving away from single vehicle ownership in favour of sharing models. Public transport needs to be enhanced and ultimately the attractiveness of driving ought to be reduced, either by active demand management means (such as charges for every vehicle kilometre travelled) or by passive demand management (having less space for cars to park, to move around and so on). This will all align to our own national strategic outcomes set out in Project Ireland 2040, to have more compact growth and sustainability mobility, as well as transition to a low carbon economy. I’m picking EVs purely as an example, but this thinking needs to happen across all the decisions we make, as people, as businesses and as a society. The point I’m making here is that there isn’t a quick-fix solution that will address all of our climate woes. To address climate change in isolation would be to misconstrue the very spirit of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and risk wreaking havoc on parts of our society already in the throes of pain from the fall-out of a pandemic that continues to rumble on.

Building a better working world

This is why Government and business must work together. It won’t and can’t work if it’s just one side driving the agenda. It’s time for proactive collaboration and straight talk. If we work together to put structures in place that support negatively impacted people and create real incentives for citizens and organisations to change their behaviour, it is more than possible. A nuanced approach will be required to assist businesses to pivot and transform and to help people move into employment in different areas of the new carbon-neutral, productive economy. So how do we change the drum beat for climate action. What can we do differently to sustain our sustainability journey?

When it comes to citizens, we need to tirelessly tackle two things: mindset and behaviour. We need to espouse a sense of curiosity and awareness across the entire sustainability spectrum. We also need to be imaginative and creative in our pursuit of meaningful and sustainable behavioural change. But how do we change behaviour with the challenge of getting people more

“When it comes to citizens, we need to tirelessly tackle two things: mindset and behaviour. We need to espouse a sense of curiosity and awareness across the entire sustainability spectrum. We also need to be imaginative and creative in our pursuit of meaningful and sustainable behavioural change.” engaged? We need to be transparent and trustworthy and think differently. Over the last number of years, social media and technology companies have created habits and trends that simply didn’t exist five years ago in many cases. What if we used a similar approach to climate action? Could our inherently human quality for play be leveraged for the benefit of our climate goals? Duolingo is a great example, and perhaps one that provides a very stark contrast to old approaches versus new. Like many, I was taught Irish through the school system here. It didn’t stick. Duolingo on the other hand, through the integration of play and behavioural nudging, has made Irish the most learned language on their platform.

This is a climate emergency. The science is clear, but that doesn’t mean that we cannot be imaginative and apply ingenuity and positivity to addressing the very real challenges ahead. The UN Sustainable Development Goals call for a war effort. Climate action is one, albeit major, battlefield. Rather than wait for orders, we need to sound the march and in the absence of clear and unequivocal rules, rely on commanders’ intent to empower initiative, improvisation, and adaptation against the guidance of what a successful conclusion looks like.

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Inertia is the enemy of progress. The only way to counter inertia is to maintain momentum. This is true for EY as it is for any business or government. It is why we decided to push on from our carbon neutral commitments in 2020 and strive for carbon negative in 2021 and beyond. It is why we have pushed for net zero in 2025 rather than waiting for 2030 like so many others. Those that can should do more. We must create the momentum and the ripples that help others to rise to action also.

environment and climate report

The answer is not to just stop doing things. We must find means of lifting all people and changing their trajectories as we ourselves seek to become more sustainable. Closer to home, the discussion here about the future of the office or city centre, while it is bold and exciting for many in professional services, is unlikely to be of any comfort to those that made a living cleaning those offices, or those serving lunches or coffees to those central workers. Firms driving towards their own carbon goals in the absence of a collective appreciation for other outcomes might exacerbate inequalities in our current system.

E: Stephen.Prendiville1@ie.ey.com W: www.ey.com/ie/carbonnegative

What if we could recast climate action not as the great burden of our generation but as the great opportunity, the global challenge, with rewards that recognise the absolute long-term value creation in the pursuit; how would we engage as people? Having relied on the stick for the last five years, maybe we need to bring back the carrot and start really pushing positivity in this challenge. 81

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Building a better working world

Climate Action Bill: Pre-legislative scrutiny Having completed its pre-legislative scrutiny (PLS) of the draft Climate Action Bill, the Oireachtas Climate Action Committee published its report of recommendations in December 2020. With the Bill set to be published imminently, Environment and Climate Minister Eamon Ryan TD has indicated that the Government will accept most of these amendments. Pre-legislative scrutiny is the process undertaken prior to the formal drafting of a bill. It occurs when the general scheme of a bill is published by a minister and is then referred to the relevant Oireachtas committee. PLS was introduced into the legislative process in 2011 and confirmed by the 32nd Dáil in 2016. In October 2020, Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications Eamon Ryan TD submitted a draft of the Climate Action and Low-Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2020 to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Climate Action for the purpose of PLS. The draft Bill is intended to “strengthen the statutory framework for more effective governance of the State’s climate objectives” by updating the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015 and establishing a national zero carbon target for 2050. It will also supersede the National Mitigation Plan contained in the 2015 Act. Key elements of the draft Bill include: • a national climate 2050 objective;

• annually updated climate action plans; • long-term strategies updated every decade; • five-year carbon budgets; • an enhanced role for and amended composition of the Climate Change Advisory Council (CCAC); • augmented Oireachtas oversight of climate policy. Concluding the pre-legislative scrutiny process, which included contributions from department officials and expert stakeholders at seven public sessions, followed by 13 additional committee meetings, the Climate Committee launched its report, Pre-Legislative Scrutiny on the draft of the Climate Action and Low-Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2020, in December 2020. Chair of the Climate Committee, Brian Leddin TD stated: “We were conscious of the wide-ranging impacts of climate policy and the urgency of the climate crisis, so the Committee confined itself to scrutiny of the proposed legislative provisions.

“Our objective in seeking inputs from experts was to focus on legislation and this report also maintains this legislative focus, keeping to current and potential textual provisions, rather than exploring climate policy more generally.” Eight key themes emerged from the public hearings, across which the committee made over 70 recommendations. 1. Language used in the Bill: Committee members and witnesses criticised the “lack of clarity around definitions”, as well as the use of “vague or aspiration language” throughout the Bill. This, the committee warned, could “prove problematic in ensuring the legislation drives the changed required”. One example provided is the use of ‘pursue’ rather than ‘pursue and achieve’ carbon neutrality. 2. Role of the Climate Change Advisory Council: Members of the committee suggested that there be “stronger and more prescriptive provision for specific representation in the CCAC”, such as climate

Building a better working world

“The scale of the challenge is so great that it must be owned by all parties and none. The hallmark of this report is consensus and cooperation.” Brian Leddin TD, Chair, Joint Committee on Climate Action

3. Target structure: Committee members asserted that overly large decarbonisation ranges could disincentivise ambition. Meanwhile, the draft Bill fails to reference Ireland’s obligations under international agreements, EU emissions targets or the Programme for Government’s average annual reduction target of 7 per cent until 2030. An additional potential flaw within the draft Bill is the omission of explicit requirements for climate action plans to meet carbon budgets. Likewise, the draft legislation omits specific interim targets. 4. Greenhouse gases including biogenic methane: Members highlighted the absence of specific provision for treating different greenhouse gases in distinct carbon budgets. There is also an uncertainty as to which greenhouse gases are to be included in carbon budgets. 5. Nature-based solutions and biodiversity: Committee members suggested that there should be “specific mention” of biodiversity in the Bill. The Committee also emphasised that the “rapidly changing environment” and that assumptions underpinning the draft Bill may require revision. Through the incorporation of research, performance measurement and monitoring, effectiveness could be reviewed in real time. The Committee also suggested that additional research be undertaken to determine how much how much carbon is stored in components of the natural landscape.

6. Carbon dioxide removal and negative emissions technologies: The Committee notes that while the draft Bill makes reference to technological innovation and the sequestration of carbon dioxide, it does not indicate the proportion of emissions to be compensated for by technological sequestration solutions. Furthermore, the Committee suggests that offshore mitigation is not clearly defined and it is unclear how the draft Bill approaches offsets or credits. 7. Just transition and climate justice: Committee members requested a submission from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and Thinktank for Action on Social Change (TASC) to inform references to just transition within the legislation. Members also suggested that more emphasis be given to public consultation in the draft Bill. 8. Accountability including for shortfalls: Members of the Committee highlighted the absence of specific consequences and a requirement for corrective measures if emission reduction targets are not met. Outlining the collaborative approach adopted by the Climate Committee, Leddin explained: “This committee has undertaken and completed an extensive exercise in pre-legislative scrutiny. A range of expert witnesses appeared before us and others sent detailed written submissions… The scale of the challenge is so great that it must be owned by all parties and none. The hallmark of this report is consensus and cooperation.” The core recommendations within the committee’s report are: • the Bill should establish clear legal obligations and ensure legal accountability; • the Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Act

2019 should be further explored;

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scientists, biodiversity experts, legal expertise and with due regard to age and gender balance. Former chair of the CCAC, John FitzGerald indicated that a better-resourced secretariat is required if the Climate Council is to deliver its proposed function relating to the carbon budget process.

• the Minister should either address in the Bill or revert to the committee with a plan to ban the importation of fracked gas and to ban LNG terminals in 2021; • the Bill must be accompanied by climate resilience measures; • while focused on mitigation, the Bill should empower the CCAC and oblige future governments to plan for adaptation; • implementation of the committee’s views on just transition, climate justice, biodiversity and naturebased solutions should be included in the climate planning and reporting mechanisms provided for in the Bill; and • the Bill should comply with the Aarhus Convention (UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters). It is anticipated that many of the recommendations made by the committee will be accepted by government. Speaking with eolas Magazine and commenting on the committee’s recommendations, Minister Ryan says: “I think [the Climate Committee] did a very good job. Brian Leddin, the chair of the committee, did really well to get everyone together to issue their report. We’re working on that now and will come back to introduce a series of amendments. We won’t be accepting every amendment, but a good chunk of them we will. I think that will improve and strengthen the Bill. “More than that and more importantly, it continues us on the path of political cooperation on climate. You turn this into a politically divisive fight and it undermines the effort. We cannot afford to do that. We cannot afford to wait; we need to be collaborative.” 83

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Public Private Puzzlement: expanding the definition of public authority under the AIE Regulations Austrian toll company was held to be a public authority. It argued that CRG was vested with special powers under the State Authorities (Public Private Partnerships Arrangements) Act 2002, the Roads Acts 1993 – 2016 and the M1 Bye-Laws, which allowed it to step into the shoes of a road undertaking by collecting tolls, recovering unpaid tolls and accessing vehicle licensing records. CRG argued that, as a private PPP partner, its ability to perform these functions was on a contractual basis only, deriving from the PPP contract.

Jeanie Kelly

Laura Rafferty

Managing requests for access to environmental information has generally been the business of ‘traditional’ public authorities such as county councils or government departments. However, two recent decisions, one from the High Court and another from the Commissioner for Environmental Information, have signalled a broader interpretation of public authority, and challenged the notion that Access to Information on the Environment requests need not concern ‘private’ entities. Laura Rafferty and Jeanie Kelly of Arthur Cox consider the impact of these decisions.

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While the European Communities (Access to Information on the Environment) Regulations 2007 – 2018, defines the concept of a public authority, the legal interpretation of this definition is coming under increasing scrutiny. Even a cursory review of the basis for appeals being made to the Commissioner reveals that the question of ‘who is a public authority’ is a key ground of appeal for parties requesting environmental information. While Irish law had generally tended to offer a relatively narrow interpretation of public authority, two recent decisions have

demonstrated a willingness on the part of both the Commissioner and the High Court to broaden the definition of a public authority. In September 2020, the Commissioner held that Celtic Roads Group (Dundalk) DAC1 (CRG), a private toll company responsible for the operation and maintenance of the Dundalk Western By-Pass under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Programme, was a public authority for the purposes of the AIE Regulations. The requestor, Right to Know, relied on a decision of the CJEU2, where an

1. Case OCE-93421-T8F8W7 2. Case 157/02 Rieser Internationale Transporte GmbH and Autobahnen- und Schnellstraßen-Finanzierungs-AG 3. 2021 [IEHC] 46

The Commissioner agreed with Right to Know in finding that CRG was a public authority. The Commissioner held that, although the CRG was given the status of a road undertaking and toll company under contract, the 2002 Act provides the statutory basis for the transfer of State functions to a private entity by way of a PPP “arrangement”, and that these functions amounted to special powers meaning that CRG was considered to be a public authority. While the Commissioner reached this decision by looking at the specific powers granted to CRG under the relevant legislation, it potentially paves the way for any private PPP partner to be considered a public authority depending on the extent of its special powers. More recently, in January 2021, a decision of the High Court in Right to Know v. Commissioner for Environmental Information and Raheenleagh Power DAC3 held a wind farm operator to be a public authority for the purposes of the AIE Regulations. Right to Know made a request for data relating to wind turbine noise measurements from a wind farm operator, Raheenleagh Power DAC. The wind farm operator was a joint venture company in which the ESB was a 50 per cent shareholder. The decision of the Commissioner to agree with the

operator that it was not a public authority was appealed to the High Court.

The decision of the High Court in Raheenleagh was arguably foreshadowed by a decision of the Information Commissioner in the United Kingdom in February 2020, where he found that EON UK Plc was a public authority for the purposes of the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR). The Commissioner found that EON had been entrusted with public services as it held an electricity supply licence, an electricity generation licence, and a gas supply licence, and that these services were of particular importance to UK citizens and the UK economy and could therefore be considered services performed by EON in the public interest. Furthermore, as the holder of an electricity generation licence, EON had certain powers under legislation which included the power to carry out street works, alteration works, felling of trees and the power to enter land. The Commissioner was therefore satisfied that EON was a public authority under the UK EIR.

“The implications of the Raheenleagh decision remain to be seen, but they may include private developers and operators who hold licences under the 1999 Act being subject to AIE requests at any and all phases of the lifecycle of a project, e.g., site selection; pre-application; EIAR and NIS preparation; during the planning process; post consent and pre-expiry of the judicial review challenge period; operational and repowering phases.” means that private special purpose vehicles or joint venture companies entered into between a public authority and private entity, or two public authorities, can be considered a public authority where they are found to be under the control of one of the public authorities. We are watching with interest where this line of argument will go in terms of widening the category of public authority.

communications, no matter how trivial, could one day be the subject of an AIE request!

While access to ‘environmental information’ can be refused on certain grounds, the public interest needs to be considered, in specific ways. Private entities who may now be subject to AIE must also consider the additional administrative burden of responding to requests completely, and within time, and bear in mind that all

Jeanie Kelly Associate, Environment and Planning Group T: +353 1 920 1376 E: jeanie.kelly@arthurcox.com

Laura Rafferty Senior Associate, Environment and Planning Group T: +353 1 920 1114 E: laura.rafferty@arthurcox.com

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The implications of the Raheenleagh decision remain to be seen, but they may include private developers and operators who hold licences under the 1999 Act being subject to AIE requests at any and all phases of the lifecycle of a project, e.g., site selection; preapplication; EIAR and NIS preparation; during the planning process; post consent and pre-expiry of the judicial review challenge period; operational and repowering phases. The decision also

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In overturning the Commissioner’s decision, the High Court noted that the wind farm operator had been granted a licence to generate electricity and an authorisation to construct the wind farm under the Electricity Regulation Act 1999. The Court found that holders of authorisations and licences benefit from special public law rights and powers conferred by the 1999 Act beyond those which result from the normal rules applicable in relations between persons governed by private law. Such rights and powers enabled the wind farm operator to perform services of public interest relating to the environment, i.e., to supply electricity. On that basis, the High Court held that the wind farm operator was a public authority. The High Court also held that the wind farm operator was a public authority on the basis that it was under the control of the ESB, which itself is a public authority, and was providing public services in relation to the environment.

W: www.arthurcox.com

environment and climate report

Building a better working world

Waste reduction and the circular economy Philip Nugent, Assistant Secretary of the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, outlines the importance of waste reduction and the circular economy as Ireland and Europe seeks to transition away from traditional modes of production and consumption. Nugent begins by contextualising the challenges facing Ireland and indeed Europe: “We know that we can’t sustain business as usual and that by 2050 we would need between two and three planets to meet the demands of such a scenario. We also know that patterns of production and consumption are a huge driver of climate change; half of total greenhouse gas emissions and more than 90 per cent of biodiversity loss stems from resource extraction and processing. “We know that material consumption has trebled since 1970, from 26.7 billion tonnes to 92 billion tonnes in 2017. We also know that climate action efforts that only focus on the transition away from fossil fuels, supplemented by energy efficiency measures, will only address 55 per cent and that the remaining 45 per cent comes from

making things. Making less ‘stuff’, if you like, or making stuff with fewer resources, is the essence of a circular economy, which has a key role to play in climate action.” Of course, any consideration of climate action in an EU member state makes discussion of the EU’s Green Deal inescapable. Published in March 2020, but perhaps overshadowed by the outbreak of Covid-19, the Green Deal provides the blueprint by which the EU sees environmental action progressing in the next decades. “This has multiple strands, and it reflects a number of things including the mobilisation of industry for a clean and circular economy,” Nugent says. “In 2020, the [European] Commission started to progress under all these strands, including the presentation of a

2030 Climate Action Plan in September, the EU strategies for energy system integration and hydrogen in July, EU Biodiversity Strategy in May, the Farm to Fork strategy which also appeared in May, the European Industrial Strategy and the new EU Climate Pact and the Circular Economy Action Plan in March.” The Circular Economy Action Plan sets out 35 new actions along the full lifecycle of products, as a way towards “fundamentally changing the way we consume and the way we produce”. Objectives in the action plan include: making sustainable products that are designed to be reusable, durable and repairable the norm; empowering consumers and buyers; ensuring less waste; and making circularity work for people, regions and cities. The key value chains that the Commission has

Building a better working world identified are: electronics and ICT; batteries and vehicles; packaging and plastics; textiles; construction and buildings; and food water and nutrients.

“On the consumer side, the focus is on improving the knowledge base of consumers, making sure that they get trustworthy information when they buy products and making sure that producers have to substantiate any green claims that they make. Governments tend to be amongst the

On the national stage, the Government published the Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy in September 2020. Although waste-focused, as the title suggests, the plan is seen as important step towards a fully realised circular economy. “It focuses on moving back along the product lifecycle, aiming to change the way things are produced and to make it easier for people to

and the transition towards it.” Part of the Government’s ambition will be to move away from the traditional conception of waste policy, which is preoccupied with how it is processed, towards addressing the consumption and production patterns that occur before that. In the immediate term, this means that there is now a dedicated team for driving the circular economy, through the new Circular Economy Division in the Department of the Environment, Climate Action and Communications. The group is already developing a National Circular Economy Strategy and has also worked to deliver a number of sectoral circular economy roadmaps in the context of the phased reopening from the first wave of Covid-19, for

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“These are all high-value chains but of course they’re also high-impact in terms of environment of resource impact. The focus is on improved design, avoiding obsolescence, tackling single-use products, digitalisation, and encouraging new business models,” Nugent says.

of jobs and cleaner transportation networks, strengthen the Just Transition Fund to accelerate decarbonisation efforts and support new economic opportunities,” he says. “We can also see it very strongly in the draft legislation for the Recovery and Resilience Fund that will see about €750 billion in loans and grants to support recovery.”

“Governments tend to be amongst the biggest consumers in terms of buying power, accounting for over 14 per cent of GDP, so the proposal of mandatory green public procurement criteria has the potential to make a really big impact here.” biggest consumers in terms of buying power, accounting for over 14 per cent of GDP, so the proposal of mandatory green public procurement criteria has the potential to make a really big impact here. While the primary focus of the Action Plan is on changing the ways in which we produce and consume goods, preventing and minimising waste, the Action Plan also looks to ensure that whatever waste is created can be transformed into high-quality materials that can then have subsequent productive lives.” The world into which the Circular Economy Action Plan was presented is gone; the pandemic having irrevocably changed the economic and social landscape through morbidity and job loss. Yet Nugent argues that the devastation seen across the world is not a reason to decelerate the move towards the circular economy, rather he argues that it should act as a catalyst. “The Commission has been clear that the EU Green Deal is a key part of its recovery strategy, with a focus on how investment such as labour-intensive renewable energy and retrofitting programmes can support the creation

make the right choices,” Nugent says. “While there are some actions that focus on how we manage the waste that we do produce, there’s a much greater focus on how we make greater use of extended producer responsibility, how we reduce and ultimately eliminate problematic single use items, how we keep materials in productive use for longer, how we cut food waste, how we can support greater segregation to ensure higher quality recycling, and how we can harness the reach and influence of all stakeholders, be they producers, retailers, NGOs, the waste industry. We must educate the people in business and help bring about positive change. “Some of the measures we have set out include a consultation around introducing a deposit return scheme, an action plan on textiles, measures on construction and demolition waste, changes to recycling targets for waste collectors and about another 200 targets. The plan is not a circular economy strategy, but it has some important things to say about circularity in a broader context. Crucially, it explicitly commits Ireland to circularity

example in construction or hospitality, to “start to hardwire circularity into operations in a way that makes them more sustainable”. Concluding, Nugent says: “In 2021, we will see the existing regional waste management plans being replaced by a single plan that will have greater emphasis on the circular economy agenda. The plan will contain specific targets for reuse, for repair and for consumption, giving practical effect to some of the specific actions we talk about in the action plan. “We’re concentrating on the most potentially impactful producer-focused policy measures in the waste action plan as a priority so we can drive the greatest change as early as possible. Things like eco-design, eco-modulation, extending producer responsibility including deposit return schemes, and how we can better effect change. The National Waste Prevention Programme, which has pioneered some excellent work in the circular economy field, has been reconfigured as Ireland’s circular economy programme with a revised mission.” 87

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Transport innovation for sustainable development: a gender perspective

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Rachel Cahill, Head of Executive Office and Sustainability Lead, Transport Infrastructure Ireland writes of how everyday stories inspire new thinking and how Transport Infrastructure Ireland gained a deeper understanding of the transport experience for women. The climate crisis poses an urgent need for a fundamental reimagining of how we live and how we move.

struggle to meet national emissions targets, even with substantial progress in other sectors.

According to the International Transport Forum (ITF), “climate change cannot be stopped without decarbonising transport”. Achieving this is one of the most urgent and complicated challenges facing the global transport sector.

As the national body charged with delivering safe and efficient transport infrastructure and services, Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) is stepping up and advancing its agenda on climate action and decarbonisation in line with the Government’s Climate Action Plan and the Programme for Government.

In contrast with other sectors of the economy, transport has yet to succeed in significantly reducing its carbon intensity. Without more effective and transformative measures to decarbonise transport, it appears that Ireland will 88

Key aspects include major new infrastructure and service delivery projects such as the new Luas system in Cork and MetroLink in Dublin (in

partnership with the National Transport Authority), in addition to demand management strategies to facilitate modal shift and a transition from private, low occupancy transport, such as cars, to public transport modes. As 2021 begins, it is obvious that transport is being repositioned. Despite the recent arrival of viable vaccines against Covid-19, any ‘return to normal’ for the foreseeable future will involve more working from home, more time spent locally, less socialising outside the household and fewer long trips for work and leisure.

We must continue to deliver safe, efficient, and decarbonised mobility solutions to enable long-term well-being and prosperity. Never has there been such a need to rapidly address and promote sustainable and active modes of transport such as walking and cycling.

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So, how do we bridge the gap between high-level aspiration and bringing about real change? One area to focus on is gaining a deeper understanding of travel behaviour and the factors that contribute to people’s decisions around choosing their primary mode of transport. Research from the ITF tells us that gender is one of the biggest determinants when it comes to travel behaviour and transport options. At a time when influencing the modal shift is of critical importance, understanding the role of gender in transport and the travel patterns and needs of 50 per cent of the population is an obvious starting point. In this context, TII has taken up the challenge of studying and understanding women’s mobility in its new study Travelling in a Woman’s Shoes (July 2020). The research seeks to understand the realities for women in Ireland today: why they make the mobility choices they do, what are their daily challenges and aspirations. Filling this gender data gap is the first step in balancing male bias in the design of future transport solutions. Decarbonising transport should not be considered simply as a technical or an engineering challenge; it is also a social and cultural challenge.

Therefore, this is a huge opportunity for the Irish transport sector to come together and work collaboratively with our partners, stakeholders, and communities so that the findings from this report can influence modal shift and inform future policy and decision making,

The challenge Transport is often seen as genderneutral, providing benefit to all equally. However, a growing body of international research highlights that this is not the case, including work carried out by the United Nations Commission (2014) on the Status of Women which found a male bias in the planning, provision, and design of transport systems. Women and men can have different needs, constraints, and expectations for using transport. If women feel more empowered and find it safe to use sustainable transport modes such as walking, cycling, public transport and carpooling, there will be less dependence on cars, more public transport trips taken across the day and night, and enhanced quality of life for all. At the same time, the planning and design of a safe, reliable, and equitable transport system will also encourage men to become less car dependant and give them more sustainable transport mode choices as part of their daily routine.

Travelling in a woman’s shoes TII’s study, which investigates the needs

and travel behaviours of women, is a first of its kind in Ireland, and we are delighted to be part of an essential step towards a deeper understanding of the transport experience for women. Across the world, men and women have different travel needs for two main reasons. First, mobility is heavily shaped by gender roles performed by women and men. Women still undertake a substantial portion of household and care-related activities daily which, when combined with work and education, make their travel patterns more complex. When you compare this with a commute to work in a business district, this mobility is often characterised by multi-purpose travel and ‘trip chaining’. Second, women’s mobility is more likely impacted by unsafe experiences and concerns for personal safety. As a result, women are exposed to greater levels of ‘travel burden’ than men relating mostly to cost, stress, time poverty, lack of accessibility and, above all, safety. There is growing international research demonstrating that this travel burden results in high car dependency and a cohort of women not leaving the house. Travelling in a Woman’s Shoes analysed available data and studies from Ireland and relevant global literature. The primary research involved an ethnographic study where we conducted 21 two-hour in-home interviews with

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Nor should it be considered in isolation from the need to develop our economy and the transport industry in line with UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Tackling climate change and decarbonising transport is part of a broader need to transform the transport sector to become a much more sustainable sector (which the World Bank defines as a safer, greener, accessible, and more efficient sector). Yet experience shows that delivering this vision of a sustainable transport sector is challenging and not so easy to achieve.

making sustainable transport options feel safer, more attractive, and more accessible to everyone.

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women in Dublin and Cork and a statistically significant quantitative survey to validate our findings. The study tells real-life stories that demonstrate the key characteristics of women’s mobility in Ireland. A research method which is not typically used in transport research, this ethnographic approach adds another dimension to existing transport research.

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The study shows us how issues of gender equality and social inclusion are well suited to the ethnographic method. This allows us to shed light on the disparities and the realities that women face every day, introducing a diversity of perspectives and enriched data that applies a gender lens to travel behaviour.

Understanding gender issues in transport

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Research participants were selected to represent a diverse demographic and geographic background, including varied daily transportation usage and behaviours. As part of the fieldwork, we also accompanied women on aspects of their everyday journeys to observe how they interact with the existing transport infrastructure.

Insights into the role of this ethnographic method in shaping future sustainable transport policy and planning are outlined below: • Ethnographic research produces evocative and nuanced insights into people’s lives and the role of mobility. It leverages the power of a person’s own words to create a vivid impression of an issue or concern faced by a woman on her journey. It is an essential vehicle for communicating complex problems and may be more effective in motivating the transport sector to engage in the subject than high-level statistical data. • An ethnographic approach enables sensitive and complex human issues to be tabled and socialised in a government and business transport context. Through people candidly telling their stories, a broad range of social, infrastructure and technological issues are revealed without polemic. The integrated nature of mobility and socioeconomic issues is made clear. • The study was able to capture feelings of fear, stress, and joy, which are significant motivators of transport

behaviour, but which are often left out of customer surveys. • This method provides a window into what is happening beyond existing measures, key performance indicators and statistical data. Decision-makers can observe the impact of transport and land use policies in real contexts. • Photos taken from women’s journeys are an essential part of the storytelling process. • Women’s rich and detailed anecdotes about their everyday mobility hold the clues to sustainable solutions. Transport innovation – technological, engineering-based, and social – need to start from these stories. This type of research is highly suited to understanding gender issues in transport. It can enable the transport sector to understand the complexity and significance of women’s mobility challenges and to innovate on an experiential level. It is an essential tool in designing effective, sustainable solutions. The findings of this research study show us that understanding modal shift, decarbonisation and a smaller scale

post-pandemic travel landscape is about understanding everyday life. It shows us that, when designing and integrating mobility solutions and land use policy, we need to consider that people are situated with families, gendered roles and work, fears, mental maps, joy, and risk appetites. Delivering sustainable mobility in the future is about unpacking these situations.

These generated rich and unexpected insights about the barriers, challenges and mental models driving mobility choice, specific to the Irish context. We used a robust, nationally representative survey of more than 1,000 respondents (male and female) to validate the hypotheses generated from the literature review and ethnographic research.

What we found What drives women to choose their primary transportation methods? We found that transport habits are socialised from an early age. For some, learning to drive and getting a car is a coming-ofage moment while for others, using public transport allows women to be independent from caregivers. Several women we spoke to talked about the freedom public transport gave them. However, when life becomes more

Even for many women who use public transportation to commute, having a car remains a ‘necessity’ for chores and other spontaneous emergencies, given how unreliable public transportation can be. When it comes to different mobility options, women consider the car to be the most pleasant and least stressful mode of transport, in comparison to the bus, for example. The car can also be associated with empowerment and joy. However, over time, for many who drive every day, it can become stressful, tedious, like a burden chore - especially given traffic congestion and for women with young children who do not feel confident driving. For women, the key issues with public transport include indirect routes and long wait times, lack of reliability, lack of support for care-giving needs and a lack of feeling safe. Socio-economic and geographic factors also influence women’s mobility experience. Across regions, cities, and neighbourhoods, women have different relationships with mobility and public transportation.

not available; as such growing up, women do not have the opportunity to learn how to navigate a public transport system. They may experience different forms of freedom and independence but are less experienced with public transport, density, anti-social behaviour etc. – which can be challenging when moving to a city for school/jobs. Overall, we found that Irish women’s mobility is hindered by existing household gender dynamics that place the burden on them.

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A better understanding of the everyday stories of women takes us beyond highlevel statements about inclusion by introducing voices that are often absent from formal consultation processes.

complex, women typically become more time poor, balancing job requirements and household tasks with the arrival of children. Public transport no longer becomes a viable option for complex trip-chaining and is not seen as being child friendly.

Women are also adversely impacted by being and feeling unsafe in public, particularly when walking and using public transport. The real-life stories of women allowed us to explore additional central themes which influence mobility: that is, how family, safety, and diversity shape transport choices. The table below illustrates some of the policy opportunities in response to these themes.

Rachel Cahill Head of Executive Office and Sustainability Lead rachel.cahill@tii.ie

In many rural areas, public transport is

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The relationship between the environment and public health

wider health risks but also a broad focus to address the wider social determinants of health, such as the circumstances in which people are born, grow, work, live and age interact to create economic, social, cultural and physical environments that promotes healthy living. “The goals themselves are to be addressed through a framework of actions organised under six themes. Under theme one, governance and policy, it is envisaged that every government department and their partner organisations would work with the Department of Health to produce coordinated plans to embed the Healthy Ireland thinking across government. “The intention behind theme three, empowering people and communities, is to build awareness of and action on the social determinants of health, which assists communities to organise and mobilise around the challenges that affect their wellbeing. This is very much captured by the determinants model within the framework.”

Greg Straton (left) with former Kazakh Head of Public Health Nadyrov Kamalzhan Talgatovich.

Greg Straton, the Assistant Principal Officer of Health and Wellbeing at the Department of Health, speaks to eolas about Healthy Ireland and the work being done to create a whole-of-government understanding of how public health and the environment intersect. “Healthy Ireland is a whole-of-

Goals and themes

government initiative aimed at improving the health and wellbeing of everyone living in Ireland,” Straton explains, adding: “The genesis of the framework is from the World Health Organisation’s regional European office. Health 2020 makes a clear connection between tackling the determinants of health and taking an all-of-government approach in the provision of the four goals of Healthy Ireland. “The vision of Healthy Ireland is ensuring that everyone in Ireland can enjoy physical and mental health and wellbeing to their full potential, that that wellbeing is valued and supported at every level of society and is everyone’s responsibility across government.”

The link between health and the environment informs Straton’s work. His responsibilities include striving for wellbeing to be valued and supported at every level through the four goals of Healthy Ireland, which are: increasing the proportion of people who are healthy at all stages of life; reducing health inequalities; protecting the public from threats to health and wellbeing; and creating an environment where every individual and sector of society can play their part in achieving a healthy Ireland. “Goal two of the framework acknowledges that health and wellbeing are not evenly distributed across Irish society,” he says. “This goal requires not only interventions to address the

Healthy Ireland Outcomes Framework The Healthy Ireland Outcomes Framework, published in 2018, is based on a conceptual model for health and wellbeing, which incorporates health status, health outcomes and the determinants of health and wellbeing across the life course. This acknowledges the interconnection between what Healthy Ireland is trying to achieve in health and other policy areas such as education, transport, and social protection, where there are significant overlapping agendas. The range of indicators selected to support measurement of these outcomes means that government can work together to create an overall picture of health and wellbeing in Ireland. The three indicators chosen for the 2018 framework were air quality, water quality and radon, chosen “for their measurability and usefulness in predicting health outcomes”. “Further inclusion of this data set could include indices on housing quality, utilisation of public and active transport, biodiversity and even land mass covered with indigenous forests,” Straton says.

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“We are now progressing with plans to create a cross-sectoral governance group to oversee the framework’s ongoing development and use. This work will explore how best to use the Outcomes Framework to underpin health and wellbeing impact assessments, of relevant intersectoral policy areas and to support an evaluation and monitoring of impacts of government policies on the Healthy Ireland outcomes. These policy areas will be identified and selected with relevance to the Healthy Ireland agenda, targeting areas of policy with the greatest impact on quality of life.”

Healthy Ireland Fund Key to the Healthy Ireland approach has been the Healthy Ireland Fund, which stimulates and supports innovative, cross-sectoral, evidencebased projects, programmes and initiatives that drive the implementation of key national policies. The Fund uses a non-competitive approach to funding that enables partnership. Working at a community level, the first round of the Fund reached almost one million citizens, developed healthy county plans in 22 counties involving 504 organisations and delivering 382 actions at local level across Ireland involving 2,456 organisations. Significantly, the Fund has been structured to allow for local people to identify needs and co-produce responses. This has resulted in 100 per cent uptake of the Fund by all those who are eligible. Examples of the initiatives supported by the Fund include the Royal Institute of Architects Ireland’s Town and Village Toolkit with Galway County Council, the Transport and Mobility Forum in Cork and the Baggot Estate native Wildflower/Biodiversity Garden in Limerick.

“Stakeholder and citizens engagement is at the centre of effective implementation of Healthy Ireland. Relationships and partnerships have been identified, built and strengthened. Additionally, since 2018, the communications and citizen engagement campaign, with the objective of positioning Healthy Ireland as a trusted source of information has been underway.”

“Cross-government and cross-societal collaboration is, we believe, the key achievement of the Fund,” Straton says. “The Fund pools the resources of other government departments. We have other departments putting money into the Fund, to implement multiple national policies at a local level in a coherent manner in a way that is citizen focused, locally relevant and tangible. “The departments of Health, Education, Transport, Tourism and Sport, Children and Youth Affairs, and Rural and Community Development have contributed to its establishment and funding and continue to support its ongoing implementation. “Stakeholder and citizens engagement is at the centre of effective implementation of Healthy Ireland. Relationships and partnerships have been identified, built and strengthened. Additionally, since 2018, the communications and citizen engagement campaign, with the objective of positioning Healthy Ireland as a trusted source of information has been underway. “The Fund is distributed via local community development committees and children and young person’s services committees. Through these existing platforms, we believe that the engagement of citizens in local decision making can ensure that local organisations can work together.” Another initiative the department has been involved in is the Warmth and Wellbeing Scheme, which is a deep

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“We’re currently looking at the Programme for Government commitment to develop a set of indicators to supplement economic measures of progress which take into account the wellbeing of the population. I believe that the approach taken by the Treasury Department of New Zealand in developing their Living Standards Framework is really an exemplar in this area.

retrofit scheme pilot that Straton sees as an “excellent example of the collaborative approach at the national level”. It was a collaboration between four national organisations: the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications, SEAI, the HSE and the Department of Health. “This was very significant for us as we had a scheme being led by a different department where the main objective was to create a positive health outcome. From a Healthy Ireland point of view, this pilot exemplifies a crossgovernment approach to the provision of public services,” he adds. Concluding, Straton looks to the future: “In the coming years we need to ensure that the sectors of society that control the most significant determinants of health and the environment realise that they play a huge role and take ownership of it. This will require those who work in the health system and environment to share ownership and expertise. Finally, we need to learn how to better utilise existing partnerships and platforms to drive change. “The creation of a Healthy Ireland requires a culture change across Ireland to allow for the implementation across government and society. The Fund serves as a catalyst in the engagement with organisations and individuals across society with regard to health and wellbeing. This increased awareness is an important factor in the future prevention of chronic disease, which requires all sectors of society to play their part.” 93

Progression for Fingal County Council in tackling climate change environment and climate report

Action Plan (CCAP) 2019-2024 was published in September 2019 after it was developed by staff across all departments, in collaboration with regional colleagues and elected representatives; and contains an ambitious list of actions which the Council will undertake over the five-year period.

Fingal County Council Parks staff receiving Green Flag award for Millennium Park.

It is now 15 months into the implementation of the Fingal County Council Climate Action Plan and in this time, as highlighted in the first annual progress report presented at the Council meeting in January 2021, Fingal County Council has achieved one of its four key targets. It has improved the energy efficiency of the Council, developed an ISO 50001 compliant energy management system and has progressed on many of the actions set out in the plan. Even though the Covid-19 pandemic was at the forefront of everyone’s mind in 2020, climate change is still one of

the most pressing issues facing local authorities in both the short and long term and Fingal County Council is still committed to tackling climate change and the impacts that will it have on the region. The Climate Action, Biodiversity and Environment Strategic Policy Committee (SPC) played an important role in the creation of the CCAP. The current Mayor of Fingal, Cllr David Healy is chairperson of the committee and he outlined the role the SPC had, and still has, in overseeing the Plan.

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“The Climate Change Action Plan resulted from Fingal County Council signing up to the EU Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy Signing up to the Covenant means committing to developing a Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan with the aims of cutting CO2 emissions by at least 40 per cent by 2030 and increasing resilience to the impacts of climate change. The Strategic Policy Committee and the entire Council is fully committed to this goal.” The Mayor of Fingal, Cllr David Healy demonstrating the new contactless bottle refill station installation. 94

Fingal County Council’s Climate Change

David Storey, who was recently appointed as Director of the newly created Environment, Climate Action and Active Travel Department for Fingal County Council, spoke about the commitment that Fingal County Council has shown over the past year. “The Progress Report demonstrates the commitment the Council has shown in the first year through the ongoing implementation of the Climate Change Action Plan, and of supporting plans. Work will continue to complete all actions outlined in the plan while also allowing for further actions to be added.” The CCAP outlined the four key targets to be achieved across its five-year timeline and contains 133 actions that are on-going or planned within the Council. They cover five key action areas – Energy and Buildings, Transport, Flood Resilience, NatureBased Solutions and Resource Management. These actions are broadranging, have a rolling duration, and are generally greater than one year in lifespan. The four key targets that were identified for the plan were: •

33 per cent improvement in the Council’s energy efficiency by 2020;

•

40 per cent reduction in the Council’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2030;

•

To make Fingal a climate resilient region; and

•

To actively engage and inform citizens on climate change.

The first Annual Progress report showed that in 2020 the implementation of the plan is well underway. One of the four

The Fingal Energy Management Team also developed an ISO 50001 certified energy management system, which enables improved oversight of energy accounts on a monthly basis. Public lighting was identified by the Energy Management Team as the main user of energy by the Council with over 50 per cent of usage. Plans are in place to expedite the roll out of LED public lighting, which are 60-70 per cent more efficient than the old lights. The roll out is now 70 per cent complete and on track for completion by the end 2021. The Mayor of Fingal, Cllr David Healy, believes Fingal County Council can be a leader in Fingal on climate action. “The Council had already taken significant steps to improve energy efficiency before developing the plan with the support of Codema. The Action Plan is moving further, seeking to make the Council a leading organisation within the county for energy efficiency, renewable energy, and the path to full decarbonisation and climate neutrality.”

“Through the development of the new Environment, Climate Action and Active Travel Department in Fingal we will be encouraging our residents to make sustainable choices in their day-to-day lives. The Council will continue to invest in infrastructure to support Active Travel and this will ensure active travel initiatives are streamlined with the resources to deliver,” says Storey.

Fingal County Council’s fleet of electric vehicles.

“The Action Plan is moving further, seeking to make the Council a leading organisation within the county for energy efficiency, renewable energy, and the path to full decarbonisation and climate neutrality.” Cllr David Healy, Mayor of Fingal The transitioning of Fingal County Council’s vehicle fleet to an electric one is at 15 per cent with 34 fully electric road vehicles in operation and 15 more on order for early 2021. A Biodiversity Action Plan is being drafted which will deliver a climate change resilient ecological network throughout the county and climate and environmental awareness programmes are ongoing with both staff and public. The continued implementation of the Action Plan, in collaboration with CARO, Codema and other stakeholders, supported by Government policy, will contribute to setting a pathway to ensure a climate resilient region in Fingal by 2030, and assist in laying the foundations for a carbon neutral society. “The Climate Action SPC plan to continue, in cooperation with the Council, the Climate Action Regional Office and Codema, to work on the full range of actions in the plan,” says Cllr

David Healy. “The target of the Action Plan encompasses the overall emissions of the county over the next decade, so, in addition to pursuing the Council's own actions, we will consider what additional steps we need to take to encourage the other organisations, individuals and businesses in the county to join us in meeting this challenge.” The Fingal Climate Change Action Plan

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The Climate Change Action Plan commits to delivering a Just Transition recognising that a significant level of change is required and that burdens borne must be fair across society. Fingal will work alongside agencies like Codema to support and encourage citizens, local businesses, public authorities and transport groups to work together towards the same goal of developing Fingal and Dublin as a sustainable, healthy, leading EU city by 2050.

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targets set, the improvement of energy efficiency of the Council of 33 per cent by December 2020, was achieved a year ahead of schedule. The Energy Management Team’s Energy Review for 2019, in collaboration with Codema, Dublin’s Energy Agency, saw the Council’s energy efficiency improve by 34.5 per cent, effectively exceeding the 33 per cent target for 2020. This improvement amounts to an absolute saving of 12.4 GWh of primary energy or 4,578 tonnes of CO2.

and the First Annual Progress Report can be viewed at: https://www.fingal.ie/climate-changeaction-plan-2019-2024

Fingal County Council T: 01-8905000 W: www.fingal.ie Twitter: @fingalcoco

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Credit: Source IISD RS

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The IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C Co-Chair of the IPCC working group III, Jim Skea, discusses the report on limiting global warming to 1.5oC and the pathways required. The 2015 Paris Agreement invited the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to provide a special report in 2018 on the impacts of global warming of 1.5oC above pre-industrial levels and the related global greenhouse gas emissions pathways. Skea suggests a simplification of the reports purpose to that of addressing two key questions: What were the impacts of global warming of 1.5oC? And what were the related greenhouse emission pathways? The IPCC looked at how the level of global warming impacted and/or the risks associated with the reasons for concern and selected natural, managed and human systems. Skea explains that the major finding was that a difference of 1.5oC to 2oC was significant. Highlighting an example, Skea points to that of tropical corals, where current levels of warming

have already seen huge risks. “Even at 1.5oC we could lose most of these corals, but at 2oC they will be virtually all gone,” he states. Another example is that of the arctic region: “If we were to warm by 1.5oC we would have an ice free arctic about once every century. If we warm by 2oC it will be once every decade. Areas of particular sensitivity in these scenarios are coastal flooding and low latitude fisheries but further knock-ons would occur in crop yields, for example. Skea’s working group III paid particular attention to the emission pathways question and the transitions consistent with 1.5oC warming. The IPCC does not have a research function and so its reports are based on existing research. Skea explains that within the existing research the IPCC found a range of scenarios that were consistent with global warming of

1.5oC, all of which fell within the trend line of global emissions of carbon dioxide shown in Figure 1. Skea points to two strong messages coming from the research of: •

CO2 emissions need to fall by ~45 per cent by 2030 on the path to limiting global warming by 1.5oC; and

•

CO2 emissions need to fall to “net zero” by mid-century to limit global warming to 1.5oC

The IPCC report outlined that emissions from other climate forcers, outside of carbon dioxide, also need to fall, but not to zero. “Emissions of non-CO2 forcers are also reduced or limited in pathways limiting global warming to 1.5oC with no or limited overshoot, but they do not reach zero globally,” says Skea, highlighting substantial fall in methane emissions and black carbon emissions, as well as

Building a better working world a lowering of nitrous oxide emissions, although not to the same extent.

Global total net CO2 emissions

The Co-Chair explains that a key point made by the IPCC within the report was that more than one way to limit global warming to 1.5oC. The report identified four illustrative pathways for carbon dioxide emissions, showing the kind of choices that might be faced if limiting warming to that level.

environment and climate report

Skea highlights an awareness from many countries that efforts to limit warming should happen in the context of sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty. Emphasising the absence of a quick fix, Skea points to the reports findings that limiting global warming to 1.5oC “would require rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all systems”. “There is almost nothing which can be left off the table if you want to limit global warming to 1.5oC. An incremental approach won’t do. It needs to be a big effort,” he says. Unprecedented change, identified in the report include: •

a range of technologies and behavioural changes;

•

scale up in annual investment in low carbon energy and energy efficiency by factor of five by 2050;

•

renewables supply 70-85 per cent of electricity in 2050;

•

coal declines steeply, ~zero in electricity by 2050;

•

oil and especially gas persist longer – gas use rises by 2050 in some pathways;

•

deep emissions cuts in transport and buildings; and

•

changes in land use and urban planning.

Carbon dioxide removal Another important element identified in all pathways that limit global warming to 1.5°C with limited or no overshoot is that they involve the re-use or removal of carbon dioxide (CDR) from the atmosphere. CDR can be used to compensate for residual emissions in difficult sectors such as aviation, heavy industry and freight transport, but also to achieve ‘net negative emissions’.

Source: IPCC Special report on global warming of 1.5oC

“There is almost nothing which can be left off the table if you want to limit global warming to 1.5oC. An incremental approach won’t do. It needs to be a big effort.” Skea explains that the report confirms the general understanding that the larger and longer the overshoot, the greater the reliance on CDR will be later in the century. He also highlights that bioenergy with carbon capture and storage feature in most scenarios and are only avoided in a few. This he explains would have implications for land, food and water security, ecoystems and biodiversity.

how the exercise of these options would impact on other sustainable development goals.

Sustainable development

“The clear message was that it was the energy demand measures which had the most positive outcome,” states Skea. “There are most synergies with the sustainable development goals. It is a bit more of a mixed picture on the land side but some of the biggest difficulties actually come on the energy supply side, with some of the technologies that would be exercised.

The IPCC took a number of mitigation options, alongside 17 sustainable development goals and look at measures that applied to either energy supply, energy demand or land use and

“There is a clear message that the demand side really matters if we’re going to reconcile climate mitigation with sustainable development more broadly.”

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EU Biodiversity Strategy environment and climate report

peatlands, seabed protections and public lands where re-wilding is possible.

Micheal O'Briain, Deputy Head of the Nature Unit of DG Environment in the European Commission, discusses a new pathway for biodiversity in Europe and the importance of a global context. Highlighting that the publication of the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 sits within a broader set of actions contained within the EU’s new Green Deal, O’Briain points to a much greater recognition of the seriousness of the biodiversity crisis that is being faced globally.

The European Commission representative highlights the role of nature in underpinning economies and societies and flags the World Economic Forum’s identification of the loss of biodiversity and ecosystems as “one of the greatest risks facing humanity and businesses”.

The Strategy emerged in May 2020, in parallel with the EU’s Farm to Fork Strategy, highlighting the importance of the interconnectedness between biodiversity and the food sustainability system.

On why the strategy is of critical importance now, O’Briain says that alongside a recognition that the decline of species and habitats are happening at an unprecedented rate, the pandemic has installed the need for a green recovery.

O’Briain outlines that the conclusion of the current strategy to 2020 will confirm that Europe has not halted biodiversity loss. However, he points to a much better understanding of the drivers of biodiversity loss. In Europe, the most significant of these relate to land use, particularly linked to agriculture and there is a recognition that these are being driven by the indirect drivers such as how we live, consume, and produce. “We can see the consequences in relation to the great thinning of nature that has happened over the last four decades with an increasing rate of extinction of species,” states O’Briain, emphasising the human-induced nature of this phase of extinction. 98

The strategy consists of four key elements in the form of: protect nature; restore nature; enable transformative change; and have an EU for an ambitious global agenda. Central to the protect nature element is the insurance of sufficient space for nature. The EU’s Natura 2000 programme is a solid base on which to build but is not sufficient. In response, the EU have outlined an ambition to expand its protection network to 30 per cent of EU land and sea, embracing Natura 2000 and nationally designated areas. A third of these areas are set to be recognised as ‘strictly protected’, with particular relevance to Ireland’s

In terms of restoring nature, O’Briain points out that the Commission has committed to bringing forward legally binding targets in 2021, complimenting and reinforcing existing legislation. Amidst these targets will be a move to not only halt biodiversity decline but to create measurable improvements, while also increasing organic farming by at least 25 per cent. The EU are aiming for a 50 per cent reduction in the use and risk of pesticides, the planting of an additional three billion trees and the restoration of free-flowing rivers and a reduction of damage to the seabed. On enabling transformative change, O’Briain points out that little change will occur without an enabling governance framework and sets out that enforcement will be central to this. Better implementation of existing of frameworks must also be enhanced by access to finance, better business engagement, stronger education, and the promotion of nature-based solutions. On an EU for an ambitious global agenda, O’Briain highlights the need for an EU strategy that shows a commitment which starts at home. The post-2020 framework aligns with the UN’s ‘living in harmony with nature vision’ and in doing so will have to give greater recognition to ensuring a fair and equitable share of the benefits from the use of genetic resources linked to biodiversity. To this end, the EU is aiming for a successful outcome from the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, being held in Kunming, China in 2021. Turning to the next steps for the Strategy, O’Briain says that the actions contained in the Strategy’s annex are being discussed with member states and stakeholder communities, who will be responsible for delivery. Translating the words of Europe’s leaders at the United Nations Summit on Biodiversity into actions will be the challenge at home, while globally, the conference in China will deliver a more global agenda.

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Meeting Ireland’s climate change challenge John FitzGerald, former Chair and current member of the Climate Change Advisory Council (CCAC), contextualises the climate change challenge facing the island of Ireland. Setting the scene, FitzGerald highlights that since around 2000, there has been a disconnect between emissions and national income. That is to say that economic growth has occurred without necessarily increasing emissions. “The real problem is that there has only been a slight fall in emissions over the last decade. Our objective is to cut emissions by 40 per cent by 2030 and get to net zero by 2050. There is a massive challenge there,” the former CCAC Chair asserts. “The target is framed in terms of the cumulative total between 2013 and 2020 and even with Covid, we were not going to meet that target of a 20 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. We set ourselves a target for 2020 and we did not meet it. We are not on the right path.”

The challenge In 2019, the Irish Government published its Climate Action Plan. Now, the triparty coalition government has increased the ambition for 2030 and set a net zero target for 2050, consistent with EU obligations. As such, the Climate Action Plan, which designed to

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meet the original targets is no longer sufficient. Meanwhile, the EU 2030 Climate Target Plan has yet to be legislated for. “It could shake up the 2030 targets. It represents a major change in policy measures which, if accepted, could alter the policy environment in the Republic and actually make meeting targets slightly easier,” FitzGerald remarks. To hit the 2030 target, each policy contained within the Climate Action Plan will need to be implemented, while taking into account the “very important role of land use change, sucking carbon out of the atmosphere”. More will be required, FitzGerald contends, to meet the current 2050 goal of an 80 per cent reduction in emissions. “The Climate Action Plan would get us to the existing 2030 target but then the effectiveness would peter out. There is a lot to do if we are to meet our goals and our obligations in terms of climate change,” he adds.

The policies While acknowledging that the 2019

Climate Action Plan represented a “major leap forward”, FitzGerald advises that the CCAC is “already cautioning that some of the measures may not be sufficient to do achieve the targets”. The first task is to implement the measures in the plan. The first priority of the CCAC is to provide independent advice to government. As such, one of its initial suggestions was to raise the Carbon Tax. As per Budget 2021, the Carbon Tax is now set at €33.50 per tonne of carbon, rising by between €6 and €7 per annum until 2030, when it will reach €100 per tonne. “The reason why this is important is because when you tell people to cut their emissions, you won’t get much action; it needs to be profitable. Now, that’s not sufficient to bring about change. But if they’re not going to save money, it’s not going to happen,” FitzGerald observes. As fuel prices rise, a minimum of onethird of the additional revenue will be required to offset the potentially regressive impact on low-income households. The CCAC member maintains that a combination of welfare

Building a better working world changes and the retrofitting of social housing will offset any negative impact. “The ESRI’s analysis shows that, actually, the combination is broadly progressive rather than regressive,” he emphasises.

Electricity

“Infrastructure needs to be put in place to allow renewables to work. When I sat on the Northern Ireland Authority for Energy Regulation, we negotiated the all-Ireland electricity market expecting that the Republic would deliver on the necessary electricity interconnector between Northern Ireland and the Republic. I feel kind of betrayed by the Republic in its failure, so far, to implement that. Now, I think that Northern Ireland provided some obstacles there. We need other changes too, including increased interconnection to France,” FitzGerald comments.

Transport In order to meet its demanding target for electric vehicles, the CCAC member contends that it must utilise tax revenue alongside subsidies. The total cost to reach this target, as estimated by the Department of Finance, is around €10 billion. “The State could not support that. So, the tax system needs to change to provide much more encouragement for people to buy electric vehicles,” he says. The CCAC has also recommended that those who live in rural areas and commute greater distances should be prioritised because “there will be a bigger saving and therefore a bigger return in terms of reduced emissions”. FitzGerald also emphasises the role of public transport. “A key component of the changes for 2050 is the National Planning Framework. Housing

“As a priority, the Government is going to rejig the bus system through the BusConnects programme, alongside Metro Dublin. The problem is, however, many of these investments won’t reduce emissions by 2030 but if we don’t undertake them now, they won’t reduce emissions by 2050 either,” he insists.

Agriculture Within agriculture, FitzGerald maintains that there is an opportunity whereby emissions can be reduced while simultaneously enhancing farm income security. “There’s a potential win-win here. On average, farmers in the Republic make nothing out of raising cattle. If they used some of their land to plant trees, to move into forestry biomass, they could make more money and have a more secure stream of income. At the same time, the emissions from methane and nitrates from fertilisers would be reduced,” he argues. Incentives for such a transition could be delivered in the Republic through the reassessment of Common Agricultural Policy. Furthermore, the CCAC recommends that the role of farmers in managing carbon stocks be acknowledged. “Farmers need to be rewarded for sucking carbon out of the atmosphere as an important component of offsetting the damaging emissions from methane from cattle. “The Government should also introduce measures to significantly reduce nitrogen use by 2030 because nitrogen oxide gases are a significant component of Ireland’s emissions. In fact, over one-third of Ireland’s emissions as recorded for EU purposes originate through agriculture.”

Built environment The Irish Government plans to undertake a major retrofitting project, comprising 500,000 homes, by 2030. However, FitzGerald notes that unless the Carbon Tax rises, it will not be

profitable to do so. “As resources are limited, the Government needs to target buildings which will most benefit from emissions reductions. These tend to be vulnerable households, including those in social housing. The State is the largest landlord and so it has a duty to make those changes, which is going to be very expensive,” he says, adding: “Homes currently heated by coal, oil or peat, which tend to be in rural areas should also be targeted first because gas fired central heating is less damaging in urban areas.”

environment and climate report

Significant progress has been made on the decarbonisation of electricity across the island with the accelerated closure of coal- and peat-fired electricity generation plants. Now, there are new opportunities to produce electricity from renewable energy sources, particularly in the offshore wind sector. To successfully exploit these opportunities, investment in the necessary infrastructure is essential.

development must be controlled so that it takes place in major urban areas with public and active transport connectivity. The future lies in public transport rather than people driving to work.

Overall, high rates of retrofit will not be achieved unless there is low-cost finance for households. That is a major obstacle. “You’re talking about households having to spend maybe €50 billion over the next 30 years to retrofit their houses, if we are to get to net zero. That is a massive investment by households. Making this happen efficiently and helping households to do it; the State cannot finance it. The State will have to finance the houses that it does own in terms of social housing.”

Conclusion In his concluding remarks, FitzGerald asserts that the increased ambition to tackle climate change in the Republic must be matched by the implementation of new measures to drive decarbonisation. “Even the Climate Action Plan of 2019 isn’t enough. We need to do more in agriculture in terms of reducing the national cattle herd, which wasn’t part of the plan. We need to do more in terms of heating, retrofitting and finding alternative ways to reduce emissions. We need to more, not just on electric cars, but in other areas of public transport if we are to meet our 2030 target. “Finally, policy is going to fail unless it is seen to be fair. The just transition is really important and that’s why, in terms of the revenue from the Carbon Tax, when the Minister sets out in his budget what is going to happen, there needs to be transparency. If people feel that it is unfair and that the burden is falling on people who cannot afford to pay, then there will be major resistance,” he remarks. 101

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Developing a circular economy environment and climate report

Gulland stresses that the reduction of waste is not only key to ending the emissions behind the climate crisis but is also an opportunity to create sustainable jobs and businesses. This understanding was key to Scotland’s launch of its circular economy, which began in 2014 with macro-economic research on the opportunities of a circular economy for Scotland and culminated in the Government’s Making Things Last strategy in 2016, one of the first circular economy strategies across the globe. Gulland explains that the strategy laid the groundwork for a comprehensive programme of supports and influences across key sectors, individual businesses, communities, and public sector partners to embed circular economy thinking and enable innovations.

Chief Executive of Zero Waste Scotland, Iain Gulland discusses the challenges and opportunities of the pandemic on Scotland’s progress towards becoming a circular economy. Gulland belives that the pandemic has highlighted that in the face of a global crisis, business can be done differently, and this is worth noting when thinking about tackling the climate emergency. The Chief Executive of Zero Waste Scotland, set up to lead Scotland to use products and resources responsibly and focusing on where we can have the greatest impact on climate change, says that while the Covid pandemic demands urgency in the short term, the climate emergency and the associated biodiversity emergency remain the greatest challenges of our lifetime. Gulland identifies overconsumption of the earth’s natural resources as the 102

cause of these challenges, highlighting that 80 per cent of Scotland’s carbon footprint is caused by the vast amount of goods, materials, and services the country produces, consumes and then throws away. However, he also highlights that over half of these items that become waste are imported from overseas, meaning that the impact of waste on Scotland’s biodiversity, habitat and water security is not solely to do with behaviour at home. “Quite often we only talk about dealing with our territorial emissions but clearly we really need to address what’s happening overseas as well,” he states.

Outlining some key initiatives on this front, Gulland highlights that Zero Waste Scotland has established a growing prevelance of circular economy cities and regions across Scotland and explains that many of these are done in partnership with chambers of commerce, creating both an interface with local businesses and providing a platform to facilitate strategic opportunities. Additionally, the publicly funded company has developed Revolve, Scotland’s re-use quality standard with around 150 individual outlets now certified. “It’s an attractive badge to hold, and this is now being rolled out across a wider range of businesses than the notfor-profit third sector where the Revolve standard began, with major charity retailers and now private sector businesses successfully achieving certification,” says Gulland. “The logo assures customers that they are buying from a great re-use retailer committed to providing only the highest quality second-hand products and excellent customer service.”

Building a better working world Zero Waste Scotland has invested almost £9 million in around 30 individual businesses to develop new circular economy opportunities and provided business support to over 200 individual companies in assessing new business models.

“Clearly there is an opportunity to tackle common problems but more importantly to identify common opportunities.”

Highlighting some examples of early successes, Gulland points to Renewable Parts, a company that refurbishes wind turbine parts, and which alongside a growing wind industry, has seized an opportunity to re-manufacture and repurpose parts which would usually be retained until end of life and then disposed of.

some of the gaps.”

fragility is greatest and build

Reducing waste is just one of the opportunities identified by Gulland, with another being jobs. As unemployment rises as a result of the pandemic, hitting young people hardest, Gulland sees an opportunity to develop skills and to connect young people eager to learn with businesses looking to recover, around the circular economy.

opportunities going forward.”

Scotland has set an ambitious target of a 75 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 and Gulland believes that knowledge and skills development around the circular economy now will be crucial to future success.

fragilities in the circular economy supply

“Clearly there is an opportunity to tackle common problems but more importantly to identify common opportunities,” he says.

Covid-19 Gulland admits that Covid-19 has been disruptive to the circular economy journey and to the businesses involved but stresses that it has also helped to unearth some opportunities. Emphasising that the pandemic has helped identify supply chain resilience and weaknesses in relation to re-usable or re-purposed materials. Highlighting the example whereby many breweries in Scotland switched production to hand sanitiser earlier in 2020, Gulland states that it soon became clear that it was in fact bottles that became the critical material in the supply chain, and this brought about interest in re-usable and re-fillable opportunities. Explaining that Zero Waste Scotland have worked with companies to develop a pilot around refillable systems within hospitals over the winter, he adds: “These are the types of examples where people are beginning to think differently about single use and thinking more about how re-fill, re-use and how the circular economy could help plug

environment and climate report

Another example is a facilitated collaboration between a local brewery and bakery, whereby the bakery is making biscuits from the brewery’s spent grain. Gulland sets out that this partnership is not simply the identification of one common opportunity but rather an example of how bringing businesses together collaboratively in cities and regions can create a different dynamic to partnerships.

Gulland explains that resources have been made available to a number of companies in recent months in this regard to facilitate the building of capacity but also to diversify into new markets and materials. A further major step for addressing chains is the recent Scottish Government announcement that £70 million is to be made available to local authorities in 2021 to not only reestablish recycling services but to go

Waste management

further and “ensure that we are

Discussing the opportunities in waste management, Gulland believes that the Government’s strategy has helped bind two spheres of the circular economy. The first being businesses and entrepreneurs excited about new circular economy opportunities and the second being waste management, which he says now have a common cause under the strategy.

make the most of in Scotland”.

collecting the materials that we can

Key to this will be the establishment of a consistent national household recycling service, which Gulland explains is something that has been in development for some time, recognising that 32 local authorities operating individual systems has not been optimal for circular economy development. Zero

Outlining that refuse collectors are now more accurately recognised as skilled resource managers, harvesting the valuable materials for a growing circular economy which feeds in to the national and global economy, Gulland says that the pandemic has highlighted the importance of waste material management.

Waste Scotland have been working on a national recycling charter, which the Chief Executive believes will provide a roadmap to collection consistency. Concluding, Gulland looks to the future and outlines the ambition to establish more re-processing infrastructure in Scotland. Pointing to an understanding

“The challenges over the past months of maintaining our frontline services helped to provide a focus that it wasn’t just health issues that needed to be dealt with but that we had to continue provide the materials into the economy and to ensure that we didn’t lose ground on the circular economy progress we’ve made in terms of material stewardship,” says Gulland. “It has brought to the fore the existing supply chains and the fragility of some of those supply chains and possibly exposed a lack of resilience in some areas. However, it has allowed us and government to target those areas where

that for every one job in collection in Scotland, there is potentially a further eight jobs in re-processing, repurposing or re-manufacturing materials back into the economy, he describes this as “a prize that we would very much like to secure”. “Covid has shown us that we can all do things differently which is exactly what is needed, not just to embed the circular economy but to move on our own ambitions around the climate change and biodiversity emergency,” he concludes. 103

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Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland: Article 16 Article 16 should not be regarded as a mechanism which offers an immediate reversion to the pre-Brexit status quo in response to largely predictable new frictions in goods movement from Britain to Northern Ireland, write Queen’s University Belfast’s Katy Hayward and David Phinnemore. Transition is over and the Ireland/Northern Ireland Protocol is now in operation. The first weeks have not been without their difficulties. There have been significant disruptions to the movement of goods from the rest of the United Kingdom (UK) into Northern Ireland, ongoing domestic political tensions around the Protocol as well as a near crisis in its implementation as the European Commission came perilously close to adopting unnecessary safeguard measures on the potential movement of Covid vaccines from Ireland into Northern Ireland. The difficulties have arisen because since 1 January 2021, Northern Ireland is effectively inside the customs territory of the European Union and its internal market for goods while the rest of the UK is now outside. This means new and additional formalities, checks and

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controls for the movement of goods across the Irish Sea. And what this means in practice is now being observed. From pets to British Army vehicles, goods entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK now require new paperwork. In some instances, like vegetable seeds or glass eels, such movement cannot take place at all. In many ways, this is quite predictable. Just as Brexit means there is no longer the free movement of goods, services, capital and people between the UK and the EU, so the Protocol, in avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland, entails new frictions on the movement of goods into Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK. The Protocol is a unique arrangement the implementation of which, it was anticipated, would be based on agreed

processes and involve ongoing consultation and deliberation. Any difficulties would be dealt with, in the first instance, by officials from both sides, and any necessary action beyond what has already been agreed in the Protocol taken by joint agreement. The Protocol is after all, an international agreement. As such, it constrains the scope for unilateral action. Nonetheless, unilateral action is allowed for in Article 16, which concerns safeguard measures and the mechanisms for putting them in place. Such provisions are common in trade agreements. But, they are rarely used. The purpose of safeguards is not to see the collapse of the trade agreement, but rather to help resolve unanticipated problems in a way that avoids worsening difficulties, and thus allows the

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agreement to endure. They should be used only in exceptional circumstances and thought of very much as a last resort. This explains some of the furore in late January that led to the European Commission’s decision not to proceed after all with triggering Article 16. The provisions contained in Article 16 permit the UK and the EU to act unilaterally if application of the Protocol is leading to ‘economic, societal or environmental difficulties’. They do not specify what constitutes a ‘serious’ difficulty. Nor do they define what constitutes a ‘diversion of trade’; the second justification for safeguard measures. The provisions are explicit, however, that difficulties must be both ‘serious’ and ‘liable to persist’. Normally, consultation is required before any measures can be taken. However, ‘protective measures strictly necessary to remedy the situation’ can be taken where ‘exceptional circumstances requiring action exclude prior consultation’. Presumably, whoever proposed that the European Commission trigger Article 16, thought this to be the case. Safeguard measures should not, therefore, as a matter of principle, be triggered lightly. As a mechanism for addressing ‘serious’ difficulties, Article 16 should not be regarded as a means of instantly turning things back to the way they were. Moreover, due process should be followed. This is set out in Annex 7 to the Protocol. So, if either the UK or the EU is so much as ‘considering’ adopting safeguard measures, it must normally notify the other party ‘without delay’ through the UK-EU Joint Committee. When doing so, it must provide ‘all relevant information’ (i.e. details of the ‘serious economic, societal or environmental difficulties’), explain why unilateral action is needed, what the proposed action and the justification for it. The UK and EU then consult with a view to finding a ‘commonly acceptable solution’. During the first month, no safeguard measure may be adopted unless ‘exceptional circumstances require immediate action’. Common sense would tell us that ‘exceptional

“The purpose of safeguards is not to see the collapse of the trade agreement, but rather to help resolve unanticipated problems in a way that avoids worsening difficulties, and thus allows the agreement to endure.” circumstances’ are ones that could not have been readily predictable as a consequence of the Protocol’s provisions. Worth noting here is that the UK has plentiful experience of applying the Union Customs Code and EU laws on the free movements of goods having done so throughout is membership on the EU.

Protocol. Safeguards are present as

If, at the end of that initial process, unilateral safeguards are adopted, priority ‘shall’ be given to those that ‘will least disturb the functioning’ of the Protocol. Such measures are to be ‘restricted with regard to their scope and duration’ and to what is ‘strictly necessary’ to address the difficulty or difficulties being faced. Measures should have minimal impact on the overall operation of the Protocol, which continues to apply. Both parties can still be held to their obligations.

recourse to unilateral safeguard

temporary and limited measures. Moreover, actually adopting unilateral measures normally assumes a joint approach to addressing the ‘serious’ difficulties has proven impossible. There are also wider political considerations. A hasty and unnecessary measures does little to enhance levels of trust within a relationship. As is clear from events in January, unilateral measures under Article 16 should only be taken after proper consultation and consideration of the unique circumstances of Northern Ireland. Implementation of the Protocol is going to be complicated and difficult. It entails considerable adjustment, just as the whole Brexit process does. After a long

Measures must be notified to the UK-EU Joint Committee ‘without delay’ and discussed every three months, with a view to limiting their scope and abolishing them as soon as possible. At any point, either the UK or the EU can request that the measures are reviewed. This also applies to any ‘rebalancing’ measures taken by the other party. Such measures are permitted because the Protocol is a jointly agreed set of arrangements that create a balance of rights and obligations. Any rebalancing measure must, however, be ‘proportionate’, with minimal disruption to the overall functioning of the Protocol. In sum, Article 16 is not a route to the unilateral disapplication of the whole

process of negotiation to get to the Protocol, the UK and EU now have to adjust to a new relationship and make it work in practice. This will entail consultation and deliberation, and it will be hard work and complex, particularly in this first year. There is no quick fix for that. Katy Hayward is Professor of Political Sociology at Queen’s University Belfast and a Senior Fellow of the ESRC-funded UK in a Changing Europe initiative. David Phinnemore is a Professor of European Politics at Queen’s University Belfast.

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EU DIRECTIVES PIPELINE Ten EU directives are due to be transposed into Irish law over the course of 2021, with deadlines ranging from the beginning of February to the end of November, and subjects spanning competition and consumer policy, safety, health and chemical policy, intellectual property, and company law.

COMPETITION AND CONSUMER POLICY There are four directives scheduled for transposition into Irish law in 2021 that fall under the responsibility of the Government’s Competition and Consumer Policy Unit. The first of these is Directive 2019/1, agreed by the European council and Parliament in 2018 in order to empower national competition authorities to better enforce antitrust laws. The deadline for this transposition was 4 February, but the Government had stated that this is “dependent on the progression of legislation through the Oireachtas”. This Directive will give the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission greater powers in its field, including the issuing of fines to those found to be violating anti-competition laws. Public consultation on the Bill ended on 29 January, meaning the deadline has been missed. Due on 1 July with a deadline that is “expected to be met”, a Directive 2019/770, seeks to harmonise contracts for the supply of digital content or services across the EU, “taking as a base a high level of consumer protection, in order to achieve a genuine digital single market”. Also due on the same date and noted as expected to be met is the transposition into law of Directive 2019/771, which is similar to 770 except it seeks to harmonise the sale of goods. 28 November is the deadline for the final piece of transposition falling under the Competition and Consumer Policy Unit’s remit. Commission Directive 2019/2161 will amend four separate, existing directives in order to further standardise consumer protection law and its application across the European Union.

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SAFETY, HEALTH AND CHEMICAL POLICY Three directives due for transposition into Irish law in 2021 fall under the remit of the Safety, Health and Chemical Policy Unit. The first of these is Commission Directive 2019/1831, which will establish a fifth list of indicative occupational exposure limit values. This Directive is due to be transposed by 20 May, a deadline the Government says it expects to meet. Following that is Directive 2020/1833, due for transposition by 30 June. The Directive amends the annexes to Directive 2008/68 and concerns the “provisions ser out in international agreements on the inland transportation of dangerous goods by road, rail and inland waterways”. Directive 2019/1832 is also due to be transposed under the supervision of the unit by 20 November, This Directive amends annexes to Council Directive 89/656 and “regards purely technical adjustments” on the minimum health and safety requirements for the use by workers of personal protective equipment in their workplaces.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY The Intellectual Property Unit will have one directive under its remit to transpose in 2021. Directive 2019/790 is due for transposition on or before 7 June, a deadline that is expected to be met. The Directive will amend directives 96/9 and 2001/29 and concerns copyright and related rights in the digital single market, creating a “harmonisation of the laws of the member states on copyright and related rights”. This framework is being adopted with the goal of contributing “to the proper functioning of the internal market” and stimulating “innovation, creativity, investment and production of new content, also in the digital environment, in order to avoid the fragmentation of the internal market”.

COMPANY LAW The two remaining directives fall under company law, with one being by the Company Law Development and EU Unit and the other by the Company Law Policy Unit. The former, due for transposition on or before 17 July is Directive 2019/1023, which is focused on preventive restructuring frameworks, discharge of debts and disqualifications and measures to increase the efficiency of procedure concerning restructuring, insolvency and discharge of debt”. This Directive will amend Directive 2017/1132 and “remove obstacles to the exercise of fundamental freedoms, such as the free movement of capital and freedom of establishment, which result from differences between national laws and procedures concerning preventive restricting, insolvency, discharge of debt, and disqualifications”. The Government says it is working towards the full transposition of the Directive, but “given the disruption and additional legislative requirements arising as a result of Covid-19, Ireland has formally sought a one-year extension”. Directive 2019/1151 will fall under the responsibility of the Company Law Policy Unit and has a deadline of 1 August that is expected to be met. The Directive will amend Directive 2017/1132 and concerns the use of digital tools and processes in company law and seeks to ensure a “legal and administrative environment equal to the new social and economic challenges of globalisation and digitalisation”.

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Funding the just transition Political agreement was reached in December 2020 in the European Parliament and Council on the funding of the EU’s Just Transition Fund. All instruments related to cohesion policy have been approved, with final approval of legal texts pending. The Just Transition Fund, which is central to the much-vaunted European Green Deal and is also the first pillar of the Just Transition Mechanism, is a €17.5 billion fund designed to ensure that Europe’s transition to a green economy is one that is fair and equitable to all involved. It “aims to alleviate the social and economic costs resulting from the transition towards a climate-neutral economy, through a wide range of activities directed mainly at diversifying the economic activity and helping people adapt in a changing labour market”.

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The Fund’s budget is split between the Multiannual Financial Framework and NextGenerationEU, the former contributing €7.5 billion and the latter €10 billion. On the announcement of the political agreement having been reached, the European Commission announced the “main elements of the compromise” as: budgetary commitment for 2021-2023; voluntary transfers from the European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund+ to “top up” the fund allocation that should not exceed the support from the Fund by more than three

times; the eligibility scope has been broadened to “address the social aspects of the transition”, especially creating and protecting jobs, and investments in sustainable mobility and district heating updates where deemed necessary; the exclusion of fossil fuel financing; the possibility of investment in large enterprises in “assisted areas” in compliance with state aid guidelines if they are needed to bridge job loss gaps; a review clause, allowing for the review of the Fund’s implementation by 30 June 2025; a reward mechanism linked to the

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reduction of greenhouse gas emissions; and a reinforced reference to the EU’s targets for energy and climate and to the implementation of the Paris Agreement. Upon announcement of the agreement, Commissioner of Cohesion and Reforms, Elisa Ferreira said: “The green transition will only be successful if everyone benefits from it. The Just Transition Fund will actively support the changes leading to a thriving and socially fair climate-neutral economy. The Just Transition Fund is a crucial instrument for the delivery of the European Green Deal. It is also at the heart of the cohesion policy’s mission to make sure that no one is left behind while we progress towards a greener and more competitive Europe.” Political agreement has also been reached between the Parliament, member states, Council and Commission on the next long-term budget for the EU and NextGenerationEU, a temporary instrument “designed to drive the recovery of Europe”. This agreement now means that legal adoption of the Multiannual Financial Framework and the ratification of the Own Resources Division is now the next step for the implementation of the various packages involved. It is said that the combination of the EU’s long-term budget and NextGenerationEU will be the largest stimulus package ever financed through the EU budget. €1.8 trillion will be pledged to “rebuild a post-Covid-19 Europe” that will be “greener, more digital and more resilient”. In order to unblock the funding available, member states will have to prepare and present a Territorial Just Transition Plan that identifies eligible territories expected to be the “most negatively impacted” by the transition; the preparation of these plans is said to be a key condition for the implementation of the Fund’s resources. Member states will prepare the plans with the relevant internal partners and the Commission to ensure that Territorial Just Transition Plans align with the smart specialisation strategies within the National Energy and Climate Plans. An overview of how the Just Transition Fund will operate in Ireland by the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) says that the Fund “will help regions that face significant difficulties in the local labour market from the phasing out of peat and

“The PBO document states that the midlands region will be ‘particularly affected by climate mitigation policies and decarbonising of the local economy’ due to the ‘significant presence’ of Bord na Móna in the area. Phasing out of peat for electricity generation and home heating use will ‘generate a significant challenge to the local labour market, particularly for the employees of Bord na Móna and the businesses that support it’.” coal for electricity generation and will assist those regions in the transition to a low carbon emissions economy”. Of the €17.5 billion to be distributed across Europe, Ireland will receive “up to” €77 million, or 0.4 per cent of the Fund overall.

The PBO document states that the

The allocation of funds across member states is determined through economic indicators (greenhouse gas emissions of industrial facilities in regions where carbon intensity of emissions exceeds the EU average, production of peat or oil shale) and social indicators (level of employment in the mining of coal and lignite and the level of employment in industry in the regions where the carbon intensity of emissions exceeds the EU average). Both sets of indicators account for half of the criteria each, but GNI per capita of member states and the distance of said GNI from the EU average is also factored in to “provide appropriate level of funding for the least developed member states”.

electricity generation and home heating

Of the 27 member states, only Malta (€21 million, 0.1 per cent) and Luxembourg (€8 million, 0.05 per cent) will receive lower amounts than Ireland. Poland, where coal generates roughly three quarters of electricity and employs about 100,000 people, will receive 20 per cent of the overall fund, the largest share of any member state, amounting to €3.5 billion. Germany will receive the second largest share, totalling €2.254 billion or 12.9 per cent.

ambitions of the objectives of dramatically

midlands region will be “particularly affected by climate mitigation policies and decarbonising of the local economy” due to the “significant presence” of Bord na Móna in the area. Phasing out of peat for use will “generate a significant challenge to the local labour market, particularly for the employees of Bord na Móna and the businesses that support it”. The Irish Government has established its own Just Transition Fund in addition to the EU’s and has also appointed its first Just Transition Commissioner, Kieran Mulvey. The Irish Just Transition Fund is an €11 million fund for retraining and green employment in the midlands. The PBO notes the criticism of the EU’s fund by Brussels think tank Bruegel, who have pointed out that it is “limited for the repositioning and repurposing many regions and sectors across Europe”, with a “refocus on social support for the local populations in the transitioning regions, including reskilling and upskilling projects aligned with the needs of the local labour market” recommended. The short lifespan of NextGenerationEU funding has also been criticised, with the initiative only running from 2021 to 2024.

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Since 2009, the Irish Election Literature website has hosted a vast collection of material from elections, referenda, and other campaigns. Curator of the Irish Election Literature archive and producer of the The Others podcast, Alan Kinsella sits down with Ciarán Galway to discuss his archive’s origins, trends in political literature and his initial foray into podcasting. When and why did you begin collecting political posters, leaflets, and ephemera? The first material I got would have been in February 1982 outside a polling station. It was a different time and canvassers could congregate outside the polling stations. My parents went inside to vote, my brother and myself were outside and Barry Desmond [a former Labour TD and government minister] signed a canvas card: ‘To Alan, best wishes, Barry.’ Over the years, Barry has given me great stuff. There was a second election in November 1982, and I asked friends and family members to collect literature for me. Over time, that collection grew. In the mid-2000s, I realised what I had: a

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relatively large archive that wasn’t limited to one group or one party. As well as an election archive, it also includes protest material. Initially, I felt awkward asking people to keep the material coming through their letterbox for me. Later, I remember going into my local library and offering to exhibit the material and they looked at me as though I had two heads as they felt there would be little interested. That put me off for a little while. Then, in 2014, I had my first exhibition in the National Print Museum. That planted a seed. I initially thought it would only attract political nerds, but it had a far wider appeal due to the nostalgia. Material relating to particular issues, such as divorce or abortion, have a great

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appeal from a social history perspective. When I exhibit anti-abortion literature, young people in their teens, 20s and early 30s look at it and are completely agog. It was a very different Ireland.

How much engagement do you have with the parties and candidates? My local councillors, TDs and also senators are very good to me and I get stuff in the post from various elected representatives. The flipside of that is that they know their material is being archived. If you think of politics as a job, how much material is kept? The volume of leaflets and posters produced is significant, especially over a long political career. Commonly, they simply bin everything after each election because it’s useless. Often then, at the end of a career, there is very little evidence of that election material left. They never think it’s going to end, but often it does so abruptly with an election. So, if I have something spare, I’ll send it to them.

Democratic Left and Independent Fianna Fáil or other parties which didn’t exist for long such as the Sligo/Leitrim Independent Socialist Organisation, Aontacht Éireann, I would catalogue them separately. Elsewhere, material is catalogued by constituency or county as best as I can. I always hate Constituency Commission reports because it undoes me. I also have a couple of boxes dedicated to far-left material and so on. I have stickers separate to leaflets and all the other oddities would be stored separately as well.

How has political literature evolved over the years? Much political literature has become depersonalised and a lot more decentralised. Everyone gets style guides sent out from HQ. Typically, they now have a picture of the party leader, a

Having been digitalised online, the archive has become a useful resource for people interested in politics. If people uncover something, they know they can send it to somebody who will archive it and if it’s a very interesting piece, it will potentially be exhibited.

How many individual pieces do you estimate are in your collection and how are they catalogued? I have stuff from all over the place. It’s mostly Irish, but I collect material from across the world. I got loads of stuff recently from cousins in the States from the various elections and referenda there. I would estimate that I have around 50,000 leaflets and 1,000 posters. Some of the oldest date back to Éamon de Valera’s campaign during the 1917 East Clare byelection. It’s fascinating because of the historical significance of that election, including the limited franchise at the time and the subsequent journey of de Valera’s defeated opponent Patrick Lynch who Dev later appointed Attorney General for Ireland. It’s possible to trace the economic and social history of Ireland through the material. Cataloguing depends on the size of the party. If it is a small party such as

picture of the candidate and an identical message on the back. It’s not often even locally tailored. Over time, it has become far less verbose as parties have realised that attention spans are limited. At the same time, in 2002, Fine Gael performed very poorly and so in the subsequent election in 2007, the party’s material was a lot less centralised and it would have included a lot more personalised material. The same happened in 2011 with Fianna Fáil when candidates prioritised personalised material over party branding. With Sinn Féin, during the 1980s and early 1990s, republican credentials, such as time spent in Portlaoise would have been emphasised, whereas by the early 2000s, the focus had shifted to business and community credentials. Previously, from the 1950s through to the 1990s, the material ubiquitously included profiles of the candidates; where they

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went to school, how many children they have and their involvement within the community. Things like that. You don’t get that anymore. Similarly, it’s rare enough that people include pictures with their families anymore. I would assume it’s about keeping private life private and public life public.

harmonica. I have lollipops, beermats, coats, umbrellas, jackets, a dog coat from Deirdre O’Donovan’s campaign with the slogan ‘no tall tales, just common sense’. There’s no end to it.

What provoked you to produce your new podcast on some of the

What are some of the most interesting items in your collection?

more obscure parties and people

I particularly love the posters from the 1970s and the 1980s; when colour came in there was a lot more variety. Alongside posters of historical figures such as Dev, Charlie Haughey, Garrett FitzGerald and Des O’Malley, some of the odder ones in my collection are almost unique. For example, the Christian Principles Party leaflets with the slogan: “Jobs for youth, not condoms.” They are completely niche but very much of the time. I have a jumper from the Mary Robinson campaign in 1990 and it’s a piece that always gets attention whenever it’s displayed.

I had much more spare time with the lockdown and began looking for a niche. Then I thought of one. I have a lot of material from small parties and groups that have some interesting histories, so I thought I would start telling them.

The Simon Harris wet wipes are gas. The last time, he was giving out oranges with stickers on them. In 2014, a dentist called Keith Redmond was running for Fine Gael and handed out tubes of toothpaste, so I have some of them. I have a Sinn Féin

in Irish politics?

I’m always looking at election supplements, examining the independents to find out who they are and why they’re running. Then I try to get an idea of the small parties. There’s a pattern of people setting up small parties believing that they are going to change the world. Take, for example, the Community Democrats of Ireland, formed in 1979, which named Noël Browne and Seán Dublin Bay Loftus as candidates without even consulting them. It’s a bit of a rabbit hole. People always look at the poll toppers, the headlines and at who won or lost an election, they never look deeper into the peripheral issues of the day. That’s why I started producing the podcast. Recently, I produced a podcast on South West Donegal Hospitalization Committee candidate Eunan Curristan. Eunan was one of the first hospital candidates and he set a trend for the decades ahead in Monaghan, Tullamore, and Roscommon. Other more obscure parties, like Lia Fáil, are remembered by very few people and yet they were completely off the wall. Córas na Poblachta and Ailtirí na hAiséirghe are another two. In the 1940s,

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there was so much happening and so many crackdowns; they were all smashed when Clann na Poblachta took almost everything that wasn’t Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Labour.

to hand out material, canvass and meet people. Candidates can’t not canvas. Like everyone else, I had plans for 2020 which didn’t materialise. Just before all the lockdowns, I delivered an exhibition

There is also the phenomenon of agrarian parties. The Farmers’ Party of the 1920s and early 1930s died out and then Clann na Talmhan emerged in the late 1930s. The Farmer’s Party had represented the big farmers and had no seats west of the Shannon, whereas Clann na Talmhan were the opposite and represented the small farmers and were much more successful west of the Shannon.

and a talk at the Limerick Spring Festival. I was due to drive down and then there was a storm, so I got the train and literally just had a case of material that I was able to populate a room with. It was brilliant. I will be producing a book at some stage and I’ll keep the podcast going because I have tonnes more material. Hopefully, I’ll be able to bring back the exhibitions; that’s the big ambition. I love doing

What are your ambitions for the future? I don’t believe printed literature will disappear entirely in the move towards a ‘paperless’ era. Some of it inevitably will, but most will remain. People will continue

exhibitions because I can physically show off the material, interact with people, and invariably you get to establish new connections for material. That’s really important and I’m looking forward to getting back post-pandemic.

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An Oireachtas working group exploring the response to the Judgements of the Supreme Court in the Kerins Case has completed its review of the procedures of the Houses, returning 25 recommendations to improve and regulate those procedures.

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In the wake of the Supreme Court’s judgement on the Kerins case, both the Dáil Committee on Procedure and the Seanad Committee on Procedure and Privileges “agreed to establish an officiallevel Working Group to review the procedures of the Houses, and in particular, their Standing Orders”. That Working Group carried out their review of a broad range of issues, such as house and committee procedures, oversight mechanisms, citizens’ rights, and the role of the Houses of the Oireachtas Service.

Orders, or other measures, to protect individuals against inappropriate infringement of their rights, while at the same time protecting the freedom of speech guaranteed to Members and protecting the Oireachtas from undue interference”.

The report first reiterates the Supreme Court’s recognition of committees as “an essential part of the workings of parliament” and “expressly acknowledges the ability of the Houses of the Oireachtas individually or collectively, to conduct their legitimate constitutional business through the work of their committees”. However, the treatment of Angela Kerins by the Public Accounts Committee in 2014 meant that “as the constitutional rights of citizens do not disappear at the gates of Leinster House, the Court rules that is for the Houses themselves to adopt Standing

1. Committees acting outside their terms of reference

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The Working Group returned with 25 recommendations that can be broadly broken down into five groupings: four specific remits and other recommendations.

The Supreme Court in its decision said that it will find that a committee has acted unlawfully if it acts “significantly outside its terms of reference”, which can be remedied by the Houses if they make it explicit in the terms of reference that the Oireachtas can operate “in whatever way it considers appropriate” within the wide remit of the Houses. The Court suggested that a mechanism be put in place to allow for quick changes to that

effect and that the boundaries of a committee’s terms of reference must be clearly defined. The Working Group six recommendations under this remit: 1. That an internal oversight mechanism via a Committee on Remit Oversight be established. 2. That a procedure be established for committees to apply to extend their terms of reference via an instruction motion from the Dáil. 3. That the terms of reference for each committee be reviewed to ensure they accurately reflect their work and be amended if they do not. 4. That the terms of reference of sectoral committees should be amended to allow for the examination of the use of public monies by nonState bodies in “specific circumstances”. 5. That the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform undertake a review and extension of the remit of the Comptroller and Auditor General.

Credit: Houses of the Oireachtas

Kerins case: Lessons learned

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6. That a mapping exercise of all State bodies be carried out to assess the feasibility of a single Oireachtasspecific Act to define accountability of Oireachtas committees.

2. Going beyond the witness invitation

Credit: The Houses of Oireachtas

The Court ruled that it will find a committee has acted unlawfully if it departs significantly from the terms of invitation to a witness. In the examination of a hearing’s fairness, the Court will examine the conduct of committees as a whole rather than tat of individual members. Invitations are not expected to be a “formal legal document” but a “letter of invitation which should be interpreted as a reasonable recipient of the letter concerned might be expected to read it”. The Working Group’s four recommendations under this remit are: 1. Committee chairs and clerks should receive training on the importance of advance notice of areas for question for witnesses.

2. Standing Orders and Witness Protocol be amended to strengthen the role of the chair.

5. Training be provided to chairs on the rights of witnesses before committee meetings.

2. Chairs and committees should all be made aware of the content of invitations.

3. Witness Protocol be revised to “emphasise the importance of the base rights of witnesses”.

6. All witnesses be made aware of the Witness Protocol.

4. Training be provided to chairs and members on appropriate conduct.

5. Other recommendations

4. Lack of remedy

The Working Group also made five other recommendations that arose from analysis of witness submissions:

3. The establishment of a clear process for witnesses to raise a complaint to the chair. 4. Training should be provided to chairs and clerks on the need to formally record conversations with witnesses.

3. Conduct of meetings and the invitation The Court ruled that the Oireachtas can specify the way business should be conducted and the powers of any committee’s chair “to ensure the committee concerned operates properly within the scope both of its remit and of any invitation issued to an attending citizen”. The Court said that a court will intervene when unfair conduct represents the committee as a whole rather than any individual members. The Working Group made four recommendations under this remit: 1. Standing Orders be amended to provide detail on the role and responsibilities of the chair.

The Court ruled that it will intervene where no other remedy is available; the Oireachtas will put in place a remedy where it can. The Working Group recommended six actions under this remit: 1. The establishment of a process in Standing Orders by which a witness can raise points of order with the chair during a meeting. 2. The establishment of a process in Standing Orders whereby consequences arise for members who do not respect points of order by the chair. 3. The establishment of a process whereby a witness can complain that a committee meeting has adversely affected them. 4. The Witness Protocol be formally adopted by an oversight committee.

1. That Oireachtas.ie be kept up to date with each committee’s terms of reference. 2. That the Witness Protocol be amended to provide for terms of reference being given to witnesses in advance of meetings. 3. Training be provided to chairs and clerks on the provisions of the Witness Protocols. 4. Witness Protocol be strengthened in terms of witness protection. 5. The Witness Protocol e amended to provide for reasons to be given to the witness if provisions regarding notice periods, advance notice of documents and witnesses are not met.

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TRUCE AND TREATY: 1921 CENTENARIES Conveniently, the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic enabled the State to avoid exploring the complex legacies of centenaries from the revolutionary era in 2020. How various watershed moments are ‘officially’ commemorated in 2021 remains to be seen.

19 & 21 MARCH

CROSSBARRY AND HEADFORD AMBUSHES, 19 & 21 MARCH 1921 The War of Independence escalated from late 1920 into 1921. On 19 March 1921, between Bandon and Cork city, having mobilised 1,400 soldiers and police, the British set out to encircle and destroy the Cork Number Three (West Cork) Brigade of the IRA. Tom Barry then decided that the encircled column, consisting of 104 officers and volunteers, would conduct a fighting retreat. An ambush was laid at the double crossroads at Crossbarry and British incursions repulsed. Following its success, the column escaped to fight another day. Barry recorded three men killed and three wounded against 10 British dead and four wounded. In addition, Charlie Hurley, OC of the Brigade was recovering from wounds sustained at the Upton Ambush on 15 February 1921, was trapped in a nearby safe house and killed. Crossbarry was one of the most significant military engagements of the war and the closest to a conventional battle. Three days later, at Headford Junction railway station near Killarney, Kerry Number Two Brigade ambushed a train carrying British troops travelling indirectly on the Kenmare to Tralee train. As the soldiers disembarked at Headford Junction, a column of 32 volunteers led by Dan Allman sprung the ambush. After half-an-hour, a second train arrived from Mallow carrying additional British troops, provoking the column to withdraw. Two volunteers, including Allman and three civilians were killed. The British Army recorded nine of its personnel killed and 12 wounded, though these figures are disputed. Both ambushes were major success stories, though the propaganda value was arguably greater than the military significance, buoying the IRA and impressing upon public consciousness.

Unveiled during a ceremony addressed by Tom Barry in 1966, on the periphery of the ambush area, a large stone monument commemorates the Crossbarry Ambush, County Cork.

24 MAY

THE FIRST PARLIAMENT OF NORTHERN IRELAND AND THE SECOND DÁIL, 24 MAY 1921

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The Government of Ireland Act granted home rule to Ireland and established two parliaments: The 52-seat House of Commons of Northern Ireland and the 128-seat House of Commons of Southern Ireland. The first Dáil dissolved and used the results of the Southern Ireland general election as the basis for seat allocation in the Second Dáil. The Ulster Unionist Party, led by James Craig, won 40 of the 52 seats in the northern parliament, while Sinn Féin and the Nationalist Party won six seats each. The first assembly of the Northern Ireland Parliament was held in Belfast City Hall on 7 June 1921 and was addressed by King George V. Neither Sinn Féin nor the Nationalist Party took their seats. In Southern Ireland, all 128 election candidates were returned unopposed. In June 1921, the Parliament of Southern Ireland was adjourned sine die after only the four non-Sinn Féin members (independent unionists representing the University of Dublin) sat. Led by Éamon de Valera, Sinn Féin won 130 seats across both elections (124 seats in the southern election and six in the northern). As Sinn Féin did not recognise either of the new parliaments, its six candidates elected in the north continued to attend the Dáil.

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Crowds on Belfast’s Royal Avenue as King George V makes his way to City Hall to open the Northern Ireland Parliament, 22 June 1921.

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25 MAY

BURNING OF THE CUSTOM HOUSE, 25 MAY 1921 As replicated across the country, in spring 1921, the conflict in Dublin intensified, culminating in an attack on what Oscar Traynor described as “the administrative heart of the British Civil Service machine in this country”; the Custom House. As OC of the Dublin IRA, Traynor suggested that, if successful, the attack would “reduce the most important branch of British civil government in Ireland to virtual impotence”. Favouring large-scale engagements, the attack went ahead under the expressed insistence of Éamon de Valera who wished to “bring public opinion abroad to bear on the question of Ireland’s case”. On 25 May 1921, over 120 men from the Dublin Brigade of the IRA took part in the operation, with many entering the building during working hours and clearing each of its four floors of 100 staff. Intended to take a total of 25 minutes, the objective was to burn the building. While the volunteers ultimately succeeded (with some assistance from the Dublin Fire Brigade), they failed to evacuate in time, and the Auxiliaries, already in the area, surrounded the building. A relatively short gun battle, in part due to the limited ammunition allocated, resulted in five volunteers killed and 80 captured, including members of Michael Collins’ Squad. Three civilians were also killed. Although it was a military disaster, the operation was regarded as propaganda victory. Overall, it was the single largest operation in Dublin and in de Valera’s analysis, “if these 120 men were lost and the job accomplished, the sacrifice would be well justified”. Myriad administrative records had been destroyed in the five-day inferno, creating an administrative nightmare for the British, the desired international publicity was generated, and though weakened, the Dublin Brigade continued the war as the amalgamated Dublin Guard.

11 JULY

The Custom House in flames.

TRUCE, 11 JULY 1921 Between 4 and 8 July 1921, a series of negotiations took place between Éamon de Valera and Lord Midleton (William St John Fremantle Brodrick), culminating in the signing of a truce on 9 July by Robert Barton and Eamon Duggan from the Dáil cabinet and British General Officer Commandingin-Chief Neville Macready. That same day, in a dispatch to Commandant General of Second Southern Division Ernie O’Malley, IRA Chief of Staff Richard Mulcahy wrote: “In view of the conversations now being entered into by our Government with the Government of Great Britain, and in pursuance of mutual conversations, active operations by our forces will be suspended as from noon, Monday, 11 July.”

A crowd gathered outside the Mansion House in Dublin, on 8 July 1921, days before the truce came into effect, ultimately ending the Irish War of Independence. Credit: National Library of Ireland Ref.: HOG116

06 DECEMBER

ANGLO-IRISH TREATY, 6 DECEMBER 1921 Following the truce, Éamon de Valera travelled to London and met British Prime Minister Lloyd George four times in one week (from 14 July 1921), though negotiations did not begin in earnest until October 1921. Formal negotiations were conducted by pairs from each negotiating team. On the Irish side, this was Arthur Griffith and Michael Collins, while on the British side, Austen Chamberlain was joined by an alternating negotiator. At two stages, once in November and again on 3 December, the Irish plenipotentiaries returned to Ireland to consult with the Dáil cabinet. Final amendments were made to the Anglo-Irish Treaty on 5 December 1921, with Griffith and Collins convincing the rest of the Irish delegation to sign it in the early hours of 6 December. Its main terms included: the withdrawal of British forces from most of Ireland; Ireland would become a self-governing dominion of the British Empire, the English King would be the Head of State of the Irish Free State; members of the Free State parliament would be required to take an Oath of Allegiance which included the words “be faithful to His Majesty King George V, His heirs and successors by law, in virtue of the common citizenship”; Northern Ireland would have the option of seceding from the Irish Free State within one month of the Treaty coming into effect and if it did so, a Boundary Commission would be established; and Britain would continue to control Treaty Ports. On 8 December, the Dáil cabinet voted four votes to three (including de Valera) to recommend the Treaty to the Dáil. Nine days of public debate began in the Dáil on 14 December 1921. Dáil Éireann voted to approve the Treaty on 7 January 1922, with 64 in favour, 57 against and four (including the Ceann Comhairle) not voting.

The signature page of the Anglo-Irish Treaty signed on 6 December 1921. The Irish signatories were: Arthur Griffith; Michael Collins; Robert Barton; Eamonn Duggan; and George Gavan Duffy.

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While the function of parliamentary services has grown and developed, at its core it still fulfils a traditional role. Ciarán Galway engages with Elaine Gunn, Assistant Secretary of the Parliamentary Services Division (PSD) and Clerk-Assistant of the Dáil, to discuss operational and strategic priorities, managing in the pandemic and the expansion of the committee system.

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Credit: Robert Kennedy-Cochrane

Parliamentary services: Responding to the challenges of the 33rd Dáil

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The Parliamentary Services Division, comprising House Services, the Debates Office, the Committees’ Secretariat and Rannóg an Aistriúcháin (the Translation Section), provides services to both Houses of the Oireachtas relating to the legislative process, parliamentary procedure, Committees, debates, and translation. House Services provides support for the Ceann Comhairle, LeasCheann Comhairle and the Dáil Chamber through the Journal Office, the Bills Office, the Questions Office and private offices. House Services also supports the Business Committee, the Dáil Reform Committee and the Committee on Parliamentary Privileges and Oversight.

Operational Heading up the Division, Elaine Gunn’s first priority is operational, ensuring “the smooth running of the Chamber and the provision of services to the Houses and their Committees”. In one sense, the work of the Division is public facing, with staff present during meetings, in the Dáil Chamber or in committees. “We are present in a live context; therefore, any failures are very public. It’s important that the staff have the required skills and knowledge to advise the Chair and a huge amount of time goes into ensuring that everything runs smoothly,” the Assistant Secretary outlines. Simultaneously, much of the work of the Division is ‘invisible’. “The public are unlikely to know what the PSD does because it provides back office support services to facilitate parliament to do its work,” she adds.

Dáil reform The second priority of the Division is strategic, supporting the ongoing Dáil reform process. “I’m in the Houses of the Oireachtas Service long enough to know that each Dáil has its own distinct characteristics. We adapt from Dáil to Dáil and each one brings its own challenges,” Gunn says. For instance, the 32nd Dáil ushered in a minority coalition government supported by a confidence and supply agreement. It heralded several institutional changes, including the election of the Ceann Comhairle through secret ballot and the

establishment of a Business Committee to set the agenda for the Dáil. “That’s a very significant change,” Gunn states, adding: “It is also a driver of reform through ongoing engagement between the Ceann Comhairle and the parties and groups on how the Dáil is working. While we have a separate Dáil Reform Committee, the genesis of change often emerges from the Business Committee. In that context, the Ceann Comhairle assumes the role of honest broker and consensus builder.” The PSD supports this role and conducts analytical research into how particular Dáil procedures are working. “Driven by the Business Committee and the Dáil Reform Committee, procedures are being

developed over many years in the publication of official translations of Acts, while also maintaining and developing translation services for the Houses and members. Meanwhile, Digital Parliament is a major programme forming part of the Houses of the Oireachtas Service’s overall digital transformation agenda. “Ultimately, this strategy will build and deliver a Dáil business system which will bring us to ‘best-in-class’ in the use of technology for parliamentary processes and will move us from our current systems which are largely paper-based processes supported by standalone ICT systems. “It’s ambitious and has been underway for three years, comprising detailed

“It has been extremely busy, but it is at the core of what we do: facilitating, problem solving and keeping the show on the road.” continually reviewed. Our role is evolving to include producing analytical papers to support these Committees in examining how the Dáil is working,” the Assistant Secretary reflects. For example, the Dáil Reform Committee is currently reviewing the operation of the Questions on Promised Legislation procedure. The Division has received submissions from parties and groups, and will analyse speaking times to facilitate debate aimed at reaching political consensus on any changes. The Oireachtas Research Service is a key source of information on the procedures in other parliaments and PSD will frequently commission a research paper or benchmarking survey to feed into its analysis.

Additional priorities Further strategic priorities include the delivery of the Rannóg 2024 and Digital Parliament programmes. Rannóg 2024 is a five-year plan to build capacity within the Translation Section to address a significant arrears problem that has

business process analysis and development. A number of interlinked systems have been built and the first major value point will be delivered later this year with the digital Order Paper, moving the Dáil agenda on-line and updating in real-time. This should be transformational and will be the start of embedding digital capacity within PSD,” Gunn asserts.

Covid-19 pandemic The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and associated public health restrictions in March 2020 challenged the PSD to act quickly to ensure the continuity of sittings. “The key problem, initially, was that we couldn’t safely or effectively conduct votes of the full membership due to social distancing requirements. The pandemic necessitated a swift and intense adaptation period where we moved many back-office activities and meetings online and had to run sittings with reduced numbers in the Dáil Chamber. There was a lot of redesign of procedures and re-working of the sittings schedule to meet health and safety

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imperatives,” the Assistant Secretary details.

however the core responsibilities of the Clerk-Assistant remain the same.

Given social distancing requirements, two types of sittings were devised. The first is a reduced sitting with 45 members and associated arrangements. “The Chamber team and Business Committee had a substantial volume of work in engaging with members on all of the changes, including seeking lists of the 45 members for each sitting day. “This continues to be needed to conduct reduced-numbers divisions, and we need names in advance

“The visible manifestation of the ClerkAssistant role would be when I’m sitting in the Dáil Chamber or attending the Business Committee. I am there as assistant or deputy to Peter Finnegan as Clerk. In the absence of the Clerk, the Clerk Assistant also stands in for certain administrative or statutory roles assigned to the Clerk, such as certifying bills or the issuing of writs in the case of a general election. The Clerk Assistant role is a

The PSD supports the establishment of Committees through technical drafting and procedural advice, though ultimately the design of the Committee system is a matter for the Dáil Reform Committee and the House itself. Following each general election, the Division reviews the Committee system; examining how procedures have worked and whether there are any gaps or improvements. This includes reflecting on the terms of reference for Committees and whether there are any ambiguities, lack of clarity

“What is important is not that we are visible, but that the work that we support becomes more visible and is better understood.” to complete the rollcall,” she explains. At the same time, a cross-Divisional team identified the Convention Centre Dublin (The CCD) as the best alternative location for full Dáil sittings. “They turned this around remarkably quickly,” Gunn says, adding: “We also owe a large debt of gratitude to The CCD, who worked with us every step of the way. Their assistance has been key to conducting sittings and voting safely. “Overall, our response to the pandemic has required collaborative working, moving swiftly to technology solutions, and adapting our procedures to reducednumbers sittings in Leinster House and full sittings in The CCD. It has been extremely busy, but it is at the core of what we do: facilitating, problem solving and keeping the show on the road. The crisis has shown our staff at their very best, but it has been challenging to say the least. There is constant revision and review of the agenda to meet the current demands of the pandemic. It’s ongoing change.”

procedural role; I review submissions on the application of Standing Orders to bills or motions. It is quite a technical role in many ways. “While it is an important part of my role, my overall remit is much broader. That reflects the increased complexity of parliamentary activity, particularly the expansion in Committees. The PSD supports 24 committees, and this area of work is supported by over 70 staff under three principal officers. Each Committee has a level of autonomy, yet all Committees are bound by the same rules. There is quite a bit of work in coordination and management of the Committee system as a result. “The Secretary General has the same dual role as Clerk, and this duality makes both jobs particularly busy. There is a large amount of day-to-day involvement in the running of the House that is essential. It’s necessary to manage the overall workload so that there is time allocated to less urgent but equally essential work in other areas,” she outlines.

Dual role Of Gunn’s two roles, the Clerk-Assistant function is the older and more established. In the early days of Dáil Éireann, the Clerk and Clerk-Assistant advised the Chair, acted as procedural advisers and recorded the decisions. Over time, these roles have evolved,

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Committees Committees are an integral component of the functioning of the Dáil. The Committee system has produced the greatest expansion in the ClerkAssistant’s workload when compared to that of her predecessors.

or inconsistencies. “The PSD brings technical expertise and practical experience to the table and we are trusted by members to provide impartial expert advice and analysis” the Assistant Secretary says. Indeed, the Division is increasingly relied upon to develop proposals in relation to the establishment of Committees. This reflects the fact that the Oireachtas is taking more ownership of its own business whereas previously this would have been a government-initiated process.

Challenges This, Gunn argues, is a by-product of the unique characteristics of the last Dáil which featured a big expansion of the Committee system including several Special Committees. “Committees are not going anywhere; they are only going to expand. On the one hand this expansion is a challenge because we have to secure resources for additional Committees to tight timescales; and more Committees also add complexity and potential for overlap. But on the other hand, Special Committees undertook valuable work and produced major policy reports, for example the Committee on the Future of Healthcare (Sláintecare), the Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution, or the Climate Action Committee. They prove that when Committees focus on a

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significant piece of work, they can have real impact. “Meanwhile, a major challenge for sectoral or departmental Committees is the sheer breadth of their remit; they’re shadowing an entire Department and need to prioritise their workload. I don’t envy them. Most succeed in covering a broad range of topics, however the tradeoff is that they can’t achieve the same depth of focus on any particular area,” Gunn suggests.

Credit: Robert Kennedy-Cochrane

The most significant challenge currently facing Oireachtas Committees is the 2019 Supreme Court decision that the PAC had acted unlawfully in its treatment of Angela Kerins. “The judgement contains very specific direction to Oireachtas Committees on how they must operate towards witnesses in a way that is lawful under the Constitution. This includes ensuring that they stay within the bounds of their terms of reference, that Committee Chairs manage meetings effectively, and that there are procedures to ensure that witnesses’ and third parties’ rights are appropriately balanced with members’ rights under privilege, including appropriate remedies and sanctions,” the Assistant Secretary states.

Consequently, the Joint Report on the Response of the Houses of the Oireachtas to the Judgments of the Supreme Court in the Kerins Case was published before Christmas 2020 and its recommendations are set to be implemented in 2021. “Implementing the new rules is going to be challenging for Committees as it’s ultimately a balancing act. If we get the balance right, and we should, there is no reason why this will not enhance the way that Committees conduct their work as opposed to inhibit them,” Gunn insists, adding: “It is a protective measure to ensure that we never have another Kerins case and that the Oireachtas can manage its own affairs. Members actively engaged in the process and there was an acceptance that the measures in the report are a balanced response to the Supreme Court’s decision.”

more visible and better understood. The Digital Parliament programme will facilitate that. “At the moment, when you watch Dáil Éireann, you will see TDs speaking but you have no sense of the context, the process they are engaged in, or the output. As such, Digital Parliament will better communicate the work of parliament, allowing members to contextualise what they are saying with what they are doing,” she says. Through the Digital Parliament programme, the overarching vision of the Houses of the Oireachtas Service is to showcase the parliamentary and legislative process, enabling the public to better understand the work of the Houses of the Oireachtas, leading to increased engagement. “When we see what is going on elsewhere in the world, it is very

Vision

important that the public are shown the

Looking to the future, the Assistant Secretary identifies public engagement as a key strategic priority for the Houses of the Oireachtas Service. “What is important is not that we are visible, but that the work that we support becomes

detail of parliamentary activity; that it isn’t black and white, that debates are a constructive contest of ideas, and that there is valuable and often collaborative work being undertaken by all members in the public interest,” Gunn concludes.

“The Parliamentary Services Division brings technical expertise and practical experience to the table; we are trusted to provide impartial expert advice and analysis.” eolas public affairs

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Vaccine hesitancy experience of restoring confidence in the HPV vaccine nationally, after it was challenged in the past by a misinformation campaign.” The Oireachtas report highlights evidence from opinion polls prior to Covid vaccine emergence that “suggest that a sizeable portion of the population do not intend to use a Covid-19 vaccine, even if one becomes available”.

The effectiveness of the Covid-19 vaccine in Ireland could be hampered by high levels of vaccine hesitancy, an Oireachtas report has found. The report published by the Oireachtas Library and Research Service, prior to vaccine roll out in Ireland, highlights warnings from some experts that the proportion of the population intending to take the Covid-19 vaccine may be too small to effectively stop the spread of the disease. The first vaccine was issued in the Republic of Ireland on 30 December 2020 (the first vaccine on the island was issued on 8 December in the North). By 16 February, 293,752 vaccines had been administered, with over 65s in long-term care facilities and frontline healthcare workers being targeted first and plans to move to over 70s, healthcare workers and some priority 65- to 69-year-olds in the next phase. Evidence of vaccine uptake is unlikely to emerge until vaccination roll-out reaches groups not deemed as priority, but the report by Jessica Doyle, a senior parliamentary researcher in social science, suggests a trend of decline in uptake of most vaccines in Ireland since 2014/15 and highlights that vaccine hesitancy is important when considering the “capacity of a vaccine to end the Covid-19 pandemic depends on both the effectiveness of the vaccine and the number of people taking it”. Vaccine hesitancy is defined as the delay in acceptance or refusal of vaccines despite availability of vaccination services. It does not mean a blanket 122

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refusal of vaccines and vaccine hesitancy incorporates that individuals may accept all vaccines but remain concerned about them, they may refuse or delay some vaccines but agree to other vaccines, or they may refuse all vaccines. In 2019 the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared vaccine hesitancy one of the 10 biggest threats to global health for the year. Ireland (42 per cent) sits below the EU-28 average (45 per cent) in the European Commission’s Eurobarometer survey of people who said they had been vaccinated in the past five years. A decline in vaccine uptake in Ireland is highlighted through uptake of primary childhood vaccines and the HPV vaccine. In 2014, uptake of primary school vaccines in Ireland (D3, T3, P3, Hib3, Polio3, PCV) at 12 months was 92 per cent. By 2017, this had dropped to 90 per cent and by 2018 it was 89 per cent. Decline in uptake of the HPV vaccine appears more rapid. Just under 90 per cent of the 2014/15 school year had at least stage one of the HPV vaccine compared to 66.6 per cent of the 2017/18 school year. Concern about the decline does not feature in the Government’s National Covid-19 Vaccination Strategy, published in December 2020, which highlights Ireland’s “very high existing rate of vaccine uptake”, adding “unlike many other countries, we have a positive

The Government’s Vaccination Strategy uses Amárach Research, highlighting that only 5 per cent of the population have said that they definitely won’t take the Covid-19 vaccine, and giving less emphasis to the fact that half the population (50 per cent) remained unsure. The Oireachtas report highlights research that suggests that the less effective a Covid-19 vaccine is, the more of the population that would need to be vaccinated to end the pandemic. While vaccine hesitancy can come from a result of many factors, a finding by the Oireachtas report was that “the issue of lack of confidence as a barrier to vaccine uptake may be more pronounced in the case of Covid-19, as it is likely that any potential Covid-19 vaccine will be fasttracked, albeit with appropriate trials.” On the topic of addressing vaccine hesitancy, the report finds that “few strategies have been explicitly designed to address vaccine hesitancy and even fewer of these strategies have been evaluated for impact”. A challenge for the Government and one which is set out in the Oireachtas report is the fact that hitherto “no data is collected or published on vaccine refusal rates in Ireland,” and that there have also been no substantial studies on what aspects negatively affect attitudes towards vaccination in Ireland. However, the Government’s Vaccination Strategy acknowledges the need to build confidence and deliver a communications strategy, including the promotion of vaccine confidence and plans are in place for a research study by the HSE’s National Immunisation Office (NIO) to assess the levels of vaccine acceptance in Ireland.

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TRADE UNION DESK Each year, bogus self-employment in the construction sector continues to cost the State millions of euro in lost revenue. The full potential of Irish construction will only be realised when this practice of misclassification is rigorously confronted. Liam Berney, Industrial Officer at Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) writes. The reintroduction of Level 5 lockdown measures has seen 70 per cent of construction closed, with only essential works continuing to operate. Nonetheless, the overall outlook for the sector remains positive. Through the National Development Plan (which underpins Project Ireland 2040), government has committed to funding the development of a number of large-scale infrastructural projects. In addition, the response to the housing crisis should mean further government investment in the development of public housing. While public investment remains important to the overall sector, significant levels of private sector investment are also expected in the short- and mediumterm. While the current pipeline of projects, both public and private, will ensure continued strong levels of employment, a number of significant issues remain to be resolved if the sector is to be attractive to young people seeking employment and is to maximise its potential. For many years, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions has highlighted the practice of misclassifying workers as ‘selfemployed’, otherwise known as bogus self-employment. In 2015, ICTU published a key report on bogus self-employment, including the loss of revenue to the State. It is our strong view, supported by a considerable body of evidence, that ‘bogus self-employment’ remains widespread in the sector, with an estimated 30 per cent or more of construction workers falsely classified as self-employed. This compares with an average 12 per cent in other areas of the economy.

There are obvious benefits to employers who engage in this practice, including significantly reduced employment costs. However, workers who are misclassified are denied essential rights and benefits, such as paid holidays, and in many cases do not even receive the legal minimum rates of pay for the sector. As ICTU has repeatedly emphasised, a key part of the problem is that the Revenue facilitates this misclassification of workers. Thus, an employer can, through the Revenue system, classify any number of workers as ‘self-employed’ and this classification is then accepted by Revenue. Again, the only real winners in this scenario are employers, with both the workers and the State at a loss from bogus self-employment. The Comptroller and Auditor General has estimated this loss at tens of millions of euro annually. In our view there is only one solution. The default position should be that each worker is classified as an employee unless and until the worker concerned can satisfy Revenue that they are indeed genuinely self-employed. This will require a much more rigorous approach on the part of Revenue. Government recently commissioned two key reports on the future of the construction sector. The first was compiled by KPMG, Future Analytics and TU Dublin and examined the issue of productivity. The second was compiled by AECOM Consulting and explored the skills issue. Both reports noted that ‘bogus self-employment’ and precarious employment could make the sector less attractive to people seeking work and careers in construction.

More fundamentally, the practice may also contribute to lower levels of productivity and force workers with valuable skills to seek employment elsewhere. The reports also identified the need for a renewed focus on training and development. In particular, the AECOM report identified apprenticeship training as being key to meeting the future skills challenge. Given the importance of the sector to the wider economy it is crucial that the challenges identified in both reports are tackled. ICTU has campaigned over many years for investment in apprenticeship training to ensure it is an attractive option for young people and adult learners. The establishment of the new Department for Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science creates a real opportunity to make this a reality and to give apprenticeships ‘equal status’ with third-level qualifications. The new department also has a key role in ensuring that the State’s training system is responsive to emerging skill needs, across construction and the wider economy. For example, it is envisaged that modular or ‘off-site construction’ will become increasingly significant. The State’s training system must be capable of responding to evolving skill needs such as this. Construction faces some significant challenges into the future. However, the stakeholders in the sector have demonstrated their capacity to resolve difficult and complex issues. The introduction of Safe Pass means construction sites are now much safer places to work. Equally, the measures put in place in response to Covid-19 have proven effective. A Sectoral Employment Order is in place and this sets the legal minimum pay and conditions for tens of thousands of workers in the sector. All of this has been possible because of dialogue between unions representing construction workers and employers. Stronger and deeper dialogue will be required to ensure we can meet the challenges facing the sector, now and into the future.

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Political Platform Political platform: Emer Higgins TD Emer Higgins is a first time TD having been elected to represent Dublin Mid-West in the 2020 general election. Previously, having been elected to represent the Clondalkin Electoral Area, Higgins served as Leader of the Fine Gael group in South Dublin County Council. How did your political career begin? I got my first taste of politics when I was elected on to the Student’s Council at Holy Family Community School in Rathcoole. I went on to become an elected class representative for the

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Student’s Union in University College Dublin, and today I’m honoured to sit on the governing authority of that same university. After I graduated, I went backpacking for a year and wanted to get involved in politics when I returned home. A friend of my dad’s encouraged me to join Fine Gael, so I agreed to meet

a young guy who worked in Leinster House to learn more about the party. Today, that ‘young guy’, otherwise known as Minister Simon Harris, sits at the Cabinet table and both he and Frances Fitzgerald have been fantastic supports to me as I have settled into my new role as TD for Dublin Mid-West. I was a councillor for nine years on South Dublin County Council before I ran for the Dáil and was elected as a TD exactly one year ago. While I was a councillor, I worked as an assistant to Frances Fitzgerald for a number of years and went on to work in the private sector. I started in PayPal as a co-ordinator and within seven years I had worked my way up to Chief of Staff for Customer Operations in the European Region. There, I had the opportunity to work with some Ireland’s most prominent businesswomen. I learned so much from the private sector and I hope to put those insights and my drive for efficiencies to good use in national politics.

What are your most notable achievements to date? Locally, I get the opportunity to make positive differences to the lives of my constituents every week and that is what I love about my job. If I was to pick one achievement to say I’m proud of I guess it would be around the Marriage Equality Referendum. I, like so many others, worked cross-party and with members of the LGBT community and their allies, canvassing homes in Lucan and Clondalkin to gain support for the movement. But what I’m most proud of from that campaign was helping to make the celebrations in Dublin Castle happen. I worked with a former councillor, who is now a Fianna Fáil TD, to lobby Simon Harris, then Minister for the OPW, to have Dublin Castle formally opened up to the public for the referendum announcement. The colourful images of all those gathered in the historic courtyard and the footage of the YES balloons against our unseasonably bright blue sky were beamed across the globe on the day Ireland made history. Those images single-handedly destroyed the pre-conceived notions many people in other countries had of Ireland as being

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backward or overly religious. Those celebratory moments transformed our entire nation’s international image in one fell swoop, and I was really proud to have played my part to make those celebrations happen outside Dublin Castle. Since becoming a Government TD, I have had the opportunity to bring some practical suggestions to Cabinet to consider as part of our response to Covid-19. I had the opportunity to bring feedback from doctors in my constituency directly to Tánaiste Leo Varadkar and Minister Simon Harris who went on to create regulations and Government advice on that feedback.

What is unique about representing Dublin MidWest? The political scene in Dublin Mid-West is quite unique. We have four TDs representing a huge area that spans from Palmerstown and Lucan across Clondalkin and into the villages of Newcastle, Rathcoole, Saggart and Brittas. Of those four TDs, three of them are opposition TDs. We have two Sinn Féin TDs, one People Before Profit TD and myself as a Fine Gael TD. In what was once a strong hold for Fianna Fail, Dublin Mid-West now showcases not just the fickleness of politics, but how much mainstream politics has changed in the past number of years. I am very lucky because I get on well with my fellow TDs, despite our ideological differences. I think that is because I believe that we are all in politics for the right reason and we all have a shared goal: making our community and our country a better place to live in. Our differences lie in how we get there, what policies we implement and where.

What are your priorities going forward? Housing is a huge priority for me. I sit on the Housing, Local Government and Heritage Committee and I had the opportunity to share my perspective on housing policy at Ireland’s Housing Conference which eolas Magazine ran online in January. I want to play my part in building diverse and inclusive communities that give people the opportunity to own their own

“Too many people my age are stuck in the rental trap. Many young couples are paying €1,500 rent for a two-bed apartment in unsecure leases, when they would much prefer to be paying a €1,000 mortgage for a home they’ll actually own.”

home. To me that means delivering infrastructure along with housing. I don’t believe that building mass public housing estates for people who earn under a certain threshold is the answer. Too many people my age are stuck in the rental trap. Many young couples are paying €1,500 rent for a two-bed apartment in unsecure leases, when they would much prefer to be paying a €1,000 mortgage for a home they’ll actually own. The problem is that many of them can’t afford to do that because they either can’t get a mortgage as they can’t save for a deposit, or they can’t find a home that is in their affordability range. That’s what I believe the nub of the issue is: affordability and supply, and I’m pleased that the Housing For All plan aims to bridge the affordability gap and boost supply. I am also the Fine Gael spokesperson on social media and finance technology (FinTech). I want to use this platform to make social media a safer space for everyone, especially for our children and teenagers. From a FinTech perspective, my background as a senior leader in PayPal has given me lots of experience as to how we can grow this sector by attracting further foreign direct investment to create more jobs here in Ireland, by supporting entrepreneurs and encouraging young students to look at careers in growing, modern, industries like this.

How can Fine Gael effectively stamp its identity on this coalition government? This time last year, as we entered our first lockdown, it was Leo Varadkar and Simon Harris that led us through that

uncertain time. And, in my view, it will be Fine Gael that leads us out of the economic aftermath of all this. When you think about what happens after the pandemic, when you look at all the work that has to be done from an economic recovery perspective; it’s clear that it’s our Fine Gael Ministers who will be leading on that. Leo Varadkar as Minister for Enterprise will have a crucial role to play in getting people back to work. Heather Humphreys as Minister for Social Protection has an important job to do in terms of supporting those whose jobs may not be there for them to return to. Simon Harris as Minister for Higher Education will have to help those people upskill and retrain. Simon Coveney has a crucial role in terms of helping businesses navigate through Brexit, and Paschal Donohoe, as Minister for Finance, will need to make sure that we invest in rebuilding our economy in a responsible and fair way. Fine Gael Ministers led us through the beginning of the pandemic and Fine Gael Ministers will lead us out of its economic aftermath.

What are your interests outside of the political sphere? I love going out to concerts and music festivals. I can’t wait to see a live act again. Like so many others I missed out on a lot of gigs last year and I’m hoping it won’t be too long until the live entertainment sector is back in action. I also love to travel which hasn’t been possible during the pandemic either; but at this stage I would settle for travelling to see my family outside of Dublin.

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Meet the

Seán Defoe A graduate of DCU, Seán Defoe is Group Political Correspondent for Communicorp stations Newstalk, Today FM, 98FM, Spin 1038 and Spin South-West. How did you get into journalism? Completely by accident! I had fully intended to be an architect or an engineer right up until a week or two before the CAO deadline in sixth year. Then Tommie Gorman from RTÉ happened to visit my school for a show he was filming, and they asked me to show him around. He brought such energy and enthusiasm to what he was

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doing which set off in my head that you can actually get paid to do something you love! When I combined that with my natural love of talking and being a little nosy (as well as the bottom falling out of the construction industry at that time) it made sense that a career in radio could be on the cards. On his way out the door, I asked Tommie how to become a journalist and to be fair to him he gave me some sage advice. I changed my CAO to journalism in DCU the next day.

How do you think the profession is evolving? It is already very different from when I started working professionally eight years ago. For one the industry is contracting and there are fewer jobs. When I started there was every chance that at an event you would have journalists from Newstalk, Today FM, 98FM, FM104, RTÉ and TV3 (as it was then). Whereas now there is usually only one radio reporter

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there representing and filing to the entire independent broadcast market. You’re also nothing without content online and on social media. I don’t think we’ve quite reached the tipping point where more people are getting their news from social media than are getting it on the radio, especially with the resurgence it’s had during Covid, but things are definitely trending towards online. Which also means you need to be able to tailor your content for other platforms. How I present something in a 5-minute radio interview naturally has to be different to how I tell the same story in a 280-character tweet. There is more of a responsibility now to get things right in this generation of fake news. Spin, propaganda and lies have always been there but with everyone carrying a mini-supercomputer in their pocket now it’s never been easier to spread. The longevity test for journalists and media outlets will be won on trust in good, fair and accurate reporting.

What are the challenges of working in broadcast media? The immediacy of radio has probably helped journalists who work in it to adapt more quickly to online journalism. One of the difficulties is turning around content for many more platforms than before. So, if there is a government announcement at quarter to the hour it needs to be in the bulletin at the top of that hour, preferably with audio. That means you’re trying to take in the announcement, write it up, cut the audio clip and usually to live tweet the highlights as well. All while trying to think of what question you should ask when the speeches stop! So it’s very fast paced. On a broader note broadcasters are obviously facing all sorts of revenue difficulties and though Communicorp and Virgin Media are pumping out highquality public service broadcasting we get no slice of the TV licence fee to support that and reform seems to be happening at a glacial pace.

“The immediacy of radio has probably helped journalists who work in it to adapt more quickly to online journalism.” in their late 20s or early 30s. The whole team at the Irish Examiner, Jennifer Bray with the Irish Times, Ciara Phelan at the Mirror and Christina Finn with TheJournal.ie in particular are very sharp and tell the news in a way that’s really accessible for real people with very little government nonsense or jargon. Though I’d have to say it’s the former holder of my job Gavan Reilly from Virgin Media who I admire most. I’m lucky enough to share an office with him, which is like sitting next to a supercomputer with a sense of humour. He’s really leading the way when it comes to this new age of social media journalism. On the broadcasting front, someone I hugely admire is Joe Molloy from Off The Ball (OTB). The way he puts guests at total ease even with difficult subjects means he draws much more from an interview than most people. Will O’Callaghan also of OTB should get a mention too. I don’t know anyone else who could transition from pure sports broadcasting to guest hosting The Last Word with as much ease and skill.

Who do you admire most within the industry and why?

What has been your most significant story or project to date?

What many people might not realise is a very large portion of the political journalists putting out the best stuff at the moment are very young and are only

It’s hard to look past Covid-19 as the most significant, all-consuming story I’ve ever covered and possibly that I will ever cover. I’ll never forget being on the steps

of Blair House, across from the White House, that morning in March 2020 when then Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announced the schools were to shut and life was turned upside-down for all of us. It’s strange to think that at 27 years old I might never cover a story as big as this again. As for the story that probably will stay with me the longest, it would have to be the inquest into the Buncrana pier tragedy in 2017. It was incredibly harrowing to hear the details of the deaths of the five members of one family, including three children. You learn to contain your emotions in journalism and report impartially but when the microphone goes off stories like that stay with you.

How do you spend your time outside of work? Well at the moment the same way as everyone else; not doing a whole lot! I genuinely loved going for long walks before Covid but now they’re getting a bit tiresome. I love going to concerts and festivals and the day I can see Luke O’Neill on stage with his band instead of on TV talking about the virus will be a good one. I’m a bit of a bookworm which has been a great help over the last year. At the start of lockdown I bought a PlayStation and some weights; one of those has gotten a lot of use!

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2021 can be the year of faster and fairer climate action I have lost count of how often over the years I have written the line “this year is a pivotal one for Irish climate policy”. Too often. And more often than not we have not pivoted towards action. Oisín Coghlan, Director of Friends of the Earth, writes.

This year feels different. Here’s the evidence that’s informing my gut. Based on last year’s Programme for Government we’ll see a stronger climate law, a stronger Climate Change Advisory Council, a stronger commitment to social dialogue and public engagement and what really matters in the end, a new action plan to cut emissions twice as fast as the previous government planned. But I’m taking nothing for granted. What determines which way a pivot turns is pressure. As the head of a campaigning organisation, we’ll keep pushing not just until these commitments are delivered but until Ireland is actually doing its fair share to contain climate breakdown. The first draft of the new Climate Bill wasn’t good enough. To name just one example, it made no mention of Just Transition. So we coordinated online constituency meetings between over 1,000 voters and over 100 of their local TDs. Most of our demands were endorsed by the report of the Oireachtas Climate Committee, which finished its expert-led scrutiny of the Bill in December 2020. Minister Ryan has now said the Government will accept the vast majority of its recommendations. If so, we can expect a climate law that includes: a legally binding commitment

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“to pursue and achieve” net-zero emissions by 2050 at the latest; five-year emissions ceilings, known as carbon budgets, in line with that 2050 target, adopted by the Dáil, and allocated into sectoral limits by government; a duty on ministers to produce action plans that deliver those targets; and much tighter parliamentary oversight under an Oireachtas committee doing for pollution what the Public Accounts Committee does for public money. We also expect the Bill to mandate climate action based on global justice, just transition and protection of biodiversity. One key test is whether the Bill reflects and underpins the Programme for Government commitment to a 51 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030. Given that it has been already agreed politically, any reluctance to give it a legislative mandate will be regarded as backsliding by the three coalition parties. Just as important as the governance framework provided by the Bill is the preparation of the new Climate Action Plan to actually achieve that 51 per cent reduction in climate pollution, due to be published this summer. The process, due to be launched in Spring, must go beyond conventional public consultation to include a roundtable dialogue among national stakeholders and facilitated

public participation at local level. The plan itself needs not only to deliver immediate emissions reductions but also fairness and transparency. One indication that the Government means business is the appointment of Marie Donnelly as the new Chair of the Climate Change Advisory Council. A former head of renewables in the European Commission she is a nononsense straight-talker who has also been a consistent champion of community energy and citizen participation in the transition. And the climate council finally has an actual climate scientist on board in the shape of Professor Peter Thorne from Maynooth University. These elements: a stronger Bill; a better plan; and a new council, only get us to the starting line. A decade of dodging and delaying has turned a marathon into a sprint. But if we get them right then we’ll be ready to join the rest of the world, including a refocused US under Biden, at the crucial UN climate summit in November 2021. COP26 in Glasgow is the starting gun in the race of a lifetime; the race to get to zero emissions fast enough to prevent complete climate breakdown and fairly enough to leave no one behind.

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eolas Magazine issue 44

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eolas Magazine issue 44 infrastructure report