Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

If this Bill is passed and progressed through the Oireachtas without being watered down and then implemented, it would be a historic achievement for environmental campaigners.

It would be a victory built on the back of struggles by communities like the community in Rossport, which has stood up to Shell for many years and has braved State repression and media opposition all along the line.

The Bill before the House focuses on keeping the fossil fuel reserves in the ground so that they cannot be burned and thereby add to the carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere. I want to focus on some other measures the State could take on fossil fuels to reduce emissions and decarbonise the economy. Ireland is on track to miss its emissions targets for 2020. In fact, we may have an increased level of emissions. We are also on track to miss our targets for 2030. Even though these targets are on the lower end of the scale of what many scientists think we need to achieve, we are still on track to miss them. As the environmental crisis gets worse, the timeframe within which we can take action decreases and the emissions reductions we will need to make grow. This is the result of policies that successive Governments have implemented or failed to implement.

According to a study carried out by the Irish Academy of Engineers, with massive investment across sections of the economy, the country could still meet its 2030 targets. The academy has laid out a raft of measures which could be implemented over the next 12 years, ranging from investing in renewable energies to retrofitting homes and investing in vital public services. It has estimated that the cost of such measures would be €35 billion. In our view, this would necessitate the increasing of taxation measures on the wealthy and multinationals and the making of a political decision to prioritise the environment over the interests of big business.

In Ireland, the second biggest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, after agribusiness, is the transport sector, which contributes 20% of all emissions here. Since 1990, transport has been the fastest growing contributor of emissions. Emissions from the sector have increased by a massive 130% since then. Most of this has come from people using their cars. The number of cars in this country has increased from 800,000 in 1990 to almost 2 million today. Nearly 75% of all journeys are taken in cars. The best way to tackle this is to invest significantly in public transport. Instead, the Government seems to be doing its best to drive people away from public transport. It has under-invested in public transport services, as we have seen with Bus Éireann and Iarnród Éireann. It has forced cutbacks on bus and train routes and increased fares across the board. By running the service down, it is encouraging people into cars. Despite all of this, the number of people seeking to use public transport has increased and buses, trains, and trams are packed at peak times.

If we are to provide a service to cater for the people who want to use public transport, while also encouraging people out of private cars and reducing emissions, we need to invest massively in improving and expanding public transport services and cutting fares. We can look at examples of success stories of investment in public transport. In 1981, the left-wing UK Labour Party council in London implemented the "fare's fair" policy on London transport. Fares were cut by a third before this was challenged in a court case. However, the result was clear. During the period in which fares were reduced, the use of public transport increased sharply. Last year, Solidarity and People Before Profit introduced budget proposals to revolutionise public transport and get people out of cars. An investment of just €500 million could halve all fares on CIÉ and Luas routes. This would encourage huge numbers of people out of their cars and onto public transport. We are repeating this call tonight. We are also proposing a reversal of all cuts in public transport subventions. This would cost just €90 million. If the subvention were doubled, services could be increased and fares could be slashed.

These examples show that it is not the case that environmentalists are campaigning for climate change to be tackled, while workers separately campaign for better public services. Both of these struggles are linked and need to come together. Public transport workers like those in Bus Éireann who are battling the company and the Government against cuts in pay, routes and conditions might argue that more investment is needed to improve public transport services because of climate change. We need more bus drivers on decent pay and conditions to improve public transport services and thereby tackle climate change. Likewise, environmentalists should support workers and trade unionists and see their struggles as part of the battle to defend public services and the environment. It is by building movements like this that we can force radical green change onto the agenda. A radical left-wing Government will reorganise society to protect the environment and raise living standards of all.

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