Ms Latisha McCrudden:

I say hello to my peers, members of the general public and Members of the Houses. I am a student in St. Brendan’s College and also a representative of the Irish Traveller Movement. I am here to discuss my viewpoint on climate change and the environment and what I think can be done to implement a positive change on climate change and to help protect the environment for my generation but most of all, for the future generations of all our families that are here today. Not a day goes by now when there is not some reference to climate change and its impact on us in the news. This problem has been a bone of contention in recent years and is tormenting and eroding the world. There have been natural disasters since the Stone Age but the impact of climate change on the different communities of the world has risen dramatically and now the problem is the urgent crisis of our age.

One of the first topics that I would like to express my opinion on is the education being provided to our young generations, who are the future of our world today, around the topic of climate change and the environment. In the majority of secondary schools across the country, geography has become a subject students can choose in the junior cycle. This was not the case before and it was a mandatory subject for young adolescents, in which they could learn about the topic of climate change and the environment, which is such a crisis today. How do we expect anything to change with the problems we are facing today when our future generations are being given inadequate education on the topic? Ní thagann ciall roimh aois. Actions speak louder than words, ní bheireann an chaint an móin abhaile, so why would it make sense to make geography a non-mandatory subject? It needs to be at least studied until students are ready to advance to senior cycle in secondary school. Our Government, which has control over our country, must put the necessary adjustments in place in order that geography is a mandatory subject until you have completed your junior cycle. Our young people will then have the required knowledge needed on these subjects, such as their carbon footprint, so they can implement this knowledge into their everyday living and hope to see a positive impact on both climate change and the environment.

As I am still a pupil in secondary school and will be sitting my leaving certificate in June 2023, I would like to express my opinion on another topic around primary and secondary schools throughout the country, as this age bracket can be such a force to make a positive impact on the crisis around climate change and the environment. The Government needs to put more emphasis and funding into the Green-Schools programme so every school around the country, primary and secondary, is participating in this programme. The truth is bitter, bíonn an fhírinne searbh, but it has to be told. Imagine all the schools across the entire country working on a programme over an eight-year period with each year trying to fulfil the requirements to achieve a Green-Schools flag under topics such as litter and waste, energy, water, travel, biodiversity and global citizenship. The enormous amount of impact that would have on the country would be indescribable and would all come from a student body ranging from the ages of 14 to 19 years of age, with the help of educated teachers on this topic. In my school alone, a few examples include the use of only biodegradable plates, knives and forks; recycling; switching off of electronic devices so power is only being used when a device is in operation; the installation of a bike shelter and non-filtered taps in the school for the refilling of water bottles. The issue with climate change and the environment would decrease dramatically as you would not only have every school in the country falling under those headlines but students of the school could also implement these changes in their households at home.

As a third suggestion, farmers who opt to grow organic products only should be given higher subsidies and funding from the Government than those who do not. I say this because the production of these farm chemicals is energy-intensive. Studies show that limiting synthetic nitrogen fertilisers alone, as required in organic systems, could lower direct global agriculture greenhouse emissions by 20%. Soil-boosting practices that are the foundation of organic agriculture also help sequester more carbon in soil compared with non-organic systems. Multi-median analysis comparing thousands of farms nationwide has shown that organic agriculture results in higher stable soil organic carbon and reduces nitrous oxide, N2O, emissions compared with conventional farming. As farmers grapple with everything from extreme weather events to heat stress and wildfires and as agriculture becomes even less predictable in the face of changing climate, it is essential for governments to help farmers transition to practices that increase resilience and dramatically decrease reliance on fossil fuel-based chemicals.

Finally, I will look at what we as a nation can do. The majority of problems around climate change are well and truly documented and accepted at this point. It is now about what the people in power and those with the funding required should do to help our country in need. First, grants for alternative energy sources and retrofitting of houses to make them more energy efficient should be accessible to the citizens. At the moment, to fully retrofit a house for energy efficiency and to obtain a full grant from the SEAI, the householder must spend over €50,000. This is not affordable to most families. Everyone in Ireland is experiencing the increased cost of living and running a home today. People are concerned about turning on their heat due to the cost of electricity today. While this may be good for the environment, it is not good for the health and well-being of people, especially those who are less well off who have to sit in the cold for long periods. Instead of subsidies for fuel and electricity bills, why not develop and improve more solar wind and tidal energy sources and make it less expensive for householders to insulate their home? This would make keeping homes warmer more affordable, as well as reducing our greenhouse gas emissions. Is fearr go mall ná go brách.

Footpaths and cycle lanes in the country are not up to the quality that we as pedestrians and cyclists deserve. The Government must act on this and provide the funding required, especially where I am from in the west, where it is very dangerous. A life can be taken if someone chooses to walk or cycle instead of releasing greenhouse gases into our atmosphere by driving a car. Figures from 2021 show that more pedestrians and cyclists were killed on our roads than passengers in car collisions throughout the year. Pathways and cycle lanes are just not good enough and something has to be done about it. Better pathways and cycle lanes will encourage more people to take this form of transport instead of a car, which in return reduces individual carbon footprints and allows for our atmosphere to receive less greenhouse gases and fossil fuels. Cuireadh gach rud ar an méar fhada agus bhí an mhéar fhada róghearr dá bharr.

I hope that at the age of 18 and speaking here today, my points of view on climate change and on the environment, as a girl who has been interested in and devoted time to this subject since being a first-year student, can be taken notice of and that some action can be taken. We all here have something in common: our home. It is Ireland. It is up to us what we do with it. There is no place like home. Níl aon tinteán mar do thinteán féin. Without action, our home will deteriorate due to the crisis of climate change and the effect it is having on our atmosphere. I never knew exactly the issues, crises and work that went into climate change until a past teacher of mine, Una Redmond, gave me the knowledge on the subject, for which I am truly grateful. I advise everyone here today to learn more about climate change and what we can do as human being to help in a minor and immense way. Gabhaim buíochas leis na comhaltaí as éisteacht liom. Tá súil agam go bhfuair siad eolas agus go bhfuil a bhfios acu anois cad is féidir leo a dhéanamh.