Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore has accused the Minister for the Environment of an abdication of his responsibilities after he refused to take a Dáil question from her on the implications of CETA on environmental legislation.
Deputy Whitmore, who is the party’s spokesperson for Climate Action and Biodiversity, had submitted a priority question to Minister Eamon Ryan for the Dáil this Wednesday. In her question, she asked the Minister if a risk analysis had been carried out on the impact that CETA’s Investor Court System could have on environmental policy.
However, her question was instead transferred to the Minister for Enterprise, whose Department has no oversight of environmental policy. When she sought to have the question reinstated on the Dáil agenda, she was informed that only the Minister for Enterprise is answerable on issues related to CETA.
Deputy Whitmore said:
“Environmental policy is an area most at risk from the Investor Court System, making any debate on this issue most urgent. Any act by the Government to block such a debate should not be tolerated and the Minister should not be abdicating his responsibilities on this matter.”
March 8, 2021