Mr. Theo Cullen-Mouze:

I have grown up on a farm on Clare Island in County Mayo. Our offshore community has seen the evidence of climate change in a very real and frightening way. I thank the committee for inviting us here to speak today and I thank the committee members for their work on combatting climate change. They are taking the first steps in the right direction.

The unfortunate truth, however, is that even though progress is being made and even though Irish politicians have largely been supportive of the climate strikes, we are still not doing enough. The committee's report is definitely a step in the right direction but we cannot afford to only take steps anymore, we need to make a leap. Even if every one of the recommendations outlined by the committee were to be implemented by the Government, we would still fall short of our targets.

Perhaps not our official, internationally agreed-upon ones, but our moral and ethical ones.

Ireland is a prosperous developed nation which is heralded throughout Europe as an example of how globalisation can benefit peripheral states in the 21st century. In recent years, Ireland has undergone progressive social change. I am proud to call myself Irish because of this. However, what use is a more progressive, fairer society, if society itself ceases to exist? This is not an over-dramatisation of the facts. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, report from last year is quite clear. If we do not act now, my generation and the generations to come will suffer.

Additionally, I find the repeated appeals by this committee to highlight the positive benefits of climate action, rather than the negative consequences of inaction to be quite surprising and indeed dispiriting. Climate action does indeed have benefits, benefits which will doubtlessly exceed the cost. It is vital that we do not forget why we need climate action.

One of the main reasons we are in the desperate situation that we are in now is because of the apathy and a general lack of awareness surrounding the issue. Do not for a second think that we are not in a desperate situation. It is vital that we communicate this to the public. Trying to obscure this fact is not only deceptive, it is downright irresponsible. Today our generation is saying that we demand politicians stop taking baby steps. Take a leap instead. Lead us to the future we deserve. Ireland and the planet cannot afford to wait. It is time to stop playing politics with our future.