Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

The Minister will be battered. I wish to reiterate the urgency of action needed on climate change. I am on the Joint Committee for Communications, Climate Action and Environment. From what I have seen both at the committee yesterday and in the past, there is double-speak going on. On the one hand, we acknowledge verbally in our dialogue that we have a problem. We have had a 1.38° Celsius increase in temperature this year, which is the highest on record. According to the Paris deal, we are to stay below 2° Celsius, but we are hurtling in the opposite direction. We are in a very serious situation. When we compare the budget which has been given to deal with this situation with all the sweetheart deals that have been given to developers and landlords to encourage private development to so-called "deal" with the housing crisis, it leaves a lot to be desired. I do not believe, as the Minister tried to argue, that the two things complement each other. Au contraire. What we are actually doing is assisting the heating of the planet to the detriment of what goes on here. In my next minute, I will get to the question of land usage and what we do with our bogs, trees, etc.

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