Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I spoke on behalf of this committee at a Fit for 55 presentation in Brussels. It was a meeting of the inter-parliamentary committees of Europe. The contribution I made was about the decarbonisation of the aviation and maritime sectors that are difficult to decarbonise. We were in a room with many parliamentarians from all over Europe and there was a vibe. Belgium, the Netherlands and France are cutting their flights and building more railway lines. I think France has banned flights of less than two hours duration, if there is a railway line that people can take instead. However, there was a lot of kick-back by people from northern Sweden, Cyprus, Malta and Ireland. Representatives from the Canary Islands were very vocal. I made the point that it is not a one-size-fits-all. We need to remind everyone in Brussels that we are a peripheral island at the edge of Europe. We cannot jump on a train in Hamburg to head off to the Czech Republic or wherever. We simply cannot do that and will not have any tunnels or railway lines that can bring us to the heart of Europe any time soon. Mr. Jacobs's point is important. We must ensure we remind people that we are not flying for the sheer fun of it. We are trying to get to places we cannot get to any other way.