Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

We welcome the dialogue but we are beyond that stage and we need to take action. We set up a climate advisory council, which gave very clear guidelines on the need for a stable plan and targets. All of the non-governmental organisations have highlighted those issues and we know the poorest and most vulnerable in the world who contribute very little to emissions will suffer because of our inaction.

I repeat this is the last Dáil that can take any effective action against climate change. If I had any power in this Dáil I would put this item on the agenda this week and not the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill. This cannot wait until the end of the year and it cannot wait for a budget. I appreciate what the Minister has said in respect of the budget but at some stage there must be a complete shift in thinking and a realisation that whatever about the October budget, we will end up paying a lot more. Deputy Barry has quoted Joseph Curtin of the Institute of International and European Affairs to the effect that Ireland will miss its targets by €610 million by 2020 and by up to €5.5 billion by 2030. By any stretch of the imagination we need an urgent debate in this Dáil well before October in order that we can all have an input into the targets that are set and monitoring of them.

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