Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Will all due respect, that is very disingenuous. We do not bring energy from Siberia to Ireland. That just does not happen. Most of our energy comes from the connectors with Britain coming mostly from Norway and the North Sea. Putting that to one side, the premise of the Bill is that this is not just the responsibility of a little island on the edge of the Atlantic. This is a global responsibility. As was mentioned by two of the scientists who have contributed today, five countries have created a ban on the exploration of fossil fuel. I tried to emphasise that a big part of what we are doing here is to be a contributor to that global movement that says we should wake up, smell the coffee, and leave it in the ground. The opponents of this Bill are saying we must keep drilling and producing more despite the fact that 80% of known fossil fuels has to remain in the ground. They have not disputed that science. Nonetheless, they are saying we should get more out of the ground and calling for a suite of measures to complement it with renewables. We have tried to show today that even if we found the 5 billion barrels or whatever Providence boasted it might get last year, it would take between 25 and 40 years to be able to use it, which brings us right up to the middle of the century at which point we are supposed to be bringing our carbon emissions right down. While Mr. Shannon has addressed one aspect, I would like him to try to address the holistic aspect also. It is not a matter of seeing emissions for Ireland, Norway and Siberia as completely separate. This is a planet.