Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

We are witnessing a severe variation in climate and, in the past decade or two, scientists and others have identified significant changes. It is my contention that the Government has not taken this agenda seriously enough and I do not get any sense of urgency or that there is an ongoing focus on the serious issues around climate change. When will the climate change Bill be published and when can we get down to debating it?

No. 20 on the Order Paper is the Electoral (Amendment)(Political Funding) Bill 2011. When will this Bill be returned to the House? An issue has arisen of late where a political party has raised approximately €1.2 million in North America through thousands of corporate donations. The legislative framework we enacted must have firewalls to ensure money Irish political parties cannot access in North America cannot be accessed and used via circuitous routes for electoral funding here now that the inkjet gap has been filled.

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