Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am a former trade unionist and I chaired a trade union in my area. I am very strongly in favour or people's rights so that is not an issue. I wanted to put that on the record for the sake of balance. We have to protect people rights through this process. I wanted to establish that that was happening. I put the following point to our guests and, very respectfully, to my colleagues. We cannot have it every way. If we are going to break eggs and make an omelette, we are going to have a difficulty. We cannot have the green agenda on the one hand and on the other hand expect no dislocation in the process. We have to protect people and families. I fit into all these categories and I represent people who fit into these categories and I have family connections with this area. What I am saying is that we need to get this right. We are either going to have the green agenda and tackle climate change or not. If we are going to do so, there is going to be dislocation. Obviously, we must mitigate and protect people in the process, but we cannot just maintain the status quoand still deal with climate change. Is that a reasonable proposition?