Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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75. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he has been consulted by An Taoiseach in relation to the possibility of a ban on fossil fuel advertising; if so, what his advice was; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27538/24]

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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I am sure the Minister has seen the comments by the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, calling for a ban on fossil fuel advertising. He correctly calls the fossil fuel companies the godfathers of climate chaos, who rake in record profits while the most vulnerable are left stranded. I asked the Taoiseach about this a couple of weeks ago and he said he would speak to the Minister, Deputy Ryan, to ask him to share his view on the comments of the UN Secretary General. Has he done so, and what view did the Minister share?

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I have not yet been consulted by the Taoiseach with regard to fossil fuel advertising. While I would, in principle, support such a ban, advertising standards do not fall within the remit of my Department. However, much has been done to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, which I believe answers the call of Secretary General Guterres. Our Department no longer accepts new applications for exploration licences for natural gas or oil, nor will there be any future licensing rounds. A policy statement on petroleum exploration and production in Ireland was published in August 2022 reflecting the current policy and legislative position of the Government on petroleum exploration and production. Recent legislative amendments made to the Petroleum and Other Minerals Development Act 1960 through the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021 have placed this commitment on a statutory basis. Work is ongoing, furthermore, to end the issuing of prospecting licences, mining licences or leases for coal, lignite and oil shale through the provisions of the Circular Economy and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2022 to be commenced soon. More generally, work is continuing to end our reliance on fossil fuels through the development of renewable and sustainable energy sources.

Our membership of the Beyond Oil & Gas Alliance and our international leadership by not exploring for fossil fuels, not investing State funds in fossil fuel companies, the measures I mentioned and the end of fracking in Ireland give us a response to Secretary General Guterres that is different from that of most other countries. How we would go further in advertising is something that our Department does not have responsibility for. In principle, I can see the merit of what the Secretary General is saying, but how exactly it would be applied is something that needs to be considered. No work has been done to date in my Department, or any other I am aware of, to turn that into a reality.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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It is interesting that the Minister states his Department is not responsible. I got a letter from the Ceann Comhairle disallowing one of the questions I put asking if the Minister would support such a ban. It was disallowed on the basis that the Minister has no official responsibility to Dáil Éireann and that the Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland is a self-regulatory organisation. Does the Minister know if his Department had any hand in encouraging the Ceann Comhairle to disallow that question? It seems strange to say that neither the Minister's Department nor it seems any other would answer a question about this because it is a question for advertising standards. This is clearly a political measure. As far as I remember, it was the Department of Health that introduced the Bill to ban tobacco advertising. This is a measure that should be taken in the interests of public health and of climate action, which clearly is the Minister's Department. We know that the fossil fuel companies have known since 1957 that burning fossil fuels causes increased CO2 levels.

We know they have engaged in massive, expensive campaigns of disinformation, just like the tobacco companies, to prevent that evidence from coming out. We need to treat the fossil fuel industry like the tobacco industry, banning the advertising of its products and their promotion through sponsorships.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I did not have any discussions with the Ceann Comhairle and I would never do so, given he is an independent constitutional officeholder and he decides. He was probably making a correct call in that our Department does not have specific authority for advertising standards. The Deputy makes the case that in previous instances, the Department of Health may have been involved in amending the regulations for tobacco advertising, and I will look at whether a line Department can introduce standards in advertising. I would have thought that would also have to go through the culture and media Minister, my colleague Deputy Catherine Martin, in the context of the application of it.

I do not believe we should just hand over responsibility for an industry-led advertising standards body. It does good work but in terms of public policy measures, the State still has a role. The exact mechanism in this case is slightly different from the tobacco advertising restriction because the definition of what we would or would not include or allow in this form of advertising is quite broad. It goes into the transport and energy sectors. We could argue, for example, that it might include fossil-based fertilisers or other products as well as, going back to what we were discussing earlier in the context of the circular economy, waste, oil-based plastics and so on. The complexity of the climate challenge we face and the addressing of it is such that fossil fuels are embedded in so many elements of our society. The very beneficial change to tobacco advertising regulations is not as easily applied here because of the variety of elements of fossil fuels in our lives.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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It is at least as important, however, if not more. There is a public health element. One in ten children in this country is suffering from asthma and fossil fuel cars are a major contributor to that. Of course, there is also the biggest challenge facing humanity as a whole: climate catastrophe, for which the fossil fuel companies are the number one culprits.

The Minister has been the subject of a personalised campaign by the number one polluter from this country. These companies use their influence, public presence and money not just to try to demonise those who would be in favour of climate action but also to try to encourage the consumption of fossil fuels. Advertising works. It is why more than $1 trillion a year is spent worldwide, with hundreds of billions of euro spent on fossil fuel advertising. It shapes people's behaviour. Freeing people from adverts for fossil fuel uses such as fossil fuel cars and flights would improve people's lives. We have a Bill to do precisely that, which we have introduced on First Stage. I wonder whether the Minister will support it on Second Stage.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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As I said in my initial response, in principle I agree with the Deputy. If our world is burning, as it is, and if people are profiteering from that, the issue is how we can reduce demand or the impacts of advertising from such bodies that are causing damage. I do not disagree in principle, but the exact means for application are something we would have to consider and for which we would have to work out what we will do.

It is starting to happen. For example, in the case of many cultural or other institutions, the idea they would accept sponsorship from a fossil fuel company is increasingly contested and restricted, in effect by public peer pressure and so on. Changes are happening in that regard, therefore, but as for the legislative means for implementing it, I have not seen an example of that globally. It would be good to see whether there are examples in other countries where restrictions to advertising have taken place, and on that basis we can see whether we can start applying the same here. In principle, I agree, but as for the exact mechanism, it is more complex than, for example, tobacco advertising, the issue we mentioned earlier.