Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In order to accommodate other speakers and the passage of the Bill, I will be brief. My party's position has been well put by Deputies Michael McGrath, Lawless and Dooley. I was anxious to have a few minutes in which to contribute because I have received hundreds of emails from concerned young - and not so young - people in my constituency about climate change and what it is doing. It is past time for us to be doing what we are doing today. Like other speakers, I applaud the many people who have fought this campaign and I compliment Deputy Pringle on what he has done. As Fianna Fáil spokesperson on the OPW and flood relief, I the Inishowen Peninsula in the Deputy's county of Donegal. What I saw was bizarre and unbelievable in terms of the damage caused. Some of that damage has yet to be rectified because not all of the repairs have been completed. What I saw was frightening and horrendous. My county, Roscommon, and parts of Galway, Offaly, Longford, Clare and other counties have been badly hit by severe flooding. If we do not take action on climate change, the cost to the nation in human terms will continue to grow. Lives have been lost, property has been destroyed and businesses that closed due to flash floods have not reopened.

As the representatives of the people, we have to be brave, take steps such as those outlined in the Bill and deal with the issues being brought to our attention by people in Trócaire and others who support them. In the past, my party took brave decisions. We were not afraid to introduce the levy on plastic bags. We were not afraid to introduce the smoking ban. This is why we are here in total support of what Deputy Pringle is doing. We will have a further opportunity to speak on this. It is a great day and I am delighted to support the Bill. Fianna Fáil will work with Deputy Pringle to ensure that greater progress can be made. It is absolutely essential that we move very quickly on all of this.

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