Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The concept of the effect on health should be paramount but we cannot just pay lip-service to it. We must be proactive and tackle some of the problems that could arise to damage our health. The Minister, Deputy Alex White, spoke to Deputy Boyd Barrett during the last question about the 2020 programme targets. It was worrying to hear the Taoiseach refer last Tuesday week to Ireland being in a position to negotiate with the EU on the targets we have. The only thing we should be negotiating is the possibility of achieving better targets in faster times. People are really concerned and there is a bit of a wakening up on the challenges of climate change and the attaching health issues. As a small country, it would be great for Ireland to be stronger and to act as a leading light in this area. It was great to see Scotland put a stop to fracking recently.

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