Sinn Féin spokesperson for Climate Justice, Senator Lynn Boylan, has welcomed the Independent Evaluation of the Climate Change Advisory Council which found ex officio membership could be “a compromise to independence”.

Senator Boylan said:

“Ex officio members from government institutions should not be full members of the Climate Change Advisory Council (CCAC) and should only be there to provide technical support, if at all.

“During pre-legislative scrutiny by the Climate Action Committee, we heard from numerous experts who pointed out that the inclusion of ex officio stakeholders from state bodies was unusual and makes Ireland’s Council an outlier among international examples.

“The Evaluation is clear that advisory councils should be made up of independent experts, who are there because of their expertise, not the sectoral interest they represent.

“We cannot afford to compromise on the independence of advice in relation to climate change.

“Sinn Féin has called for ex officiomembers not to be included, the expert witnesses who scrutinised the Climate Bill called for it, and now an Independent Evaluation is calling for it. Minister Eamon Ryan must heed this advice.”