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

Nobody is arguing that gas power generation should be cut off tomorrow. We are saying we have to transition from where we are to almost fully using renewables. We have heard many arguments about this today. Mr. O'Sullivan cited the International Energy Agency several times. Two weeks ago, representatives of the IEA informed the committee that we have a 50:50 chance of meeting our Paris targets. I put it to Mr. O'Sullivan that he would not get on a plane if he was told it had a 50% chance of crashing. He would not get on that plane and nor would I. This is what we are doing with our environment and planet, particularly by arguing that we will lock ourselves into a gas fuelled carbon fuelled economy by allowing the further extraction and exploration of oil and gas off Ireland.