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

I am delighted to have an opportunity to contribute to the debate, although I might not use the full ten minutes allocated to me, and to give my thoughts and ideas. I thank Deputy Niamh Smyth who made a very important presentation to the Dáil yesterday evening, as did all the speakers - Deputy Catherine Martin, Deputy Michael Collins and everybody else. The debate must include everybody. I appeal for it not to become a debate that pits urban against rural or one group against another. We all clearly recognise that there is a major issue at stake. Biodiversity loss is a major problem for us all. We all have a responsibility to work together to make the improvements that are necessary. When talking about biodiversity and different types of pollution people ask about China, Russia, America and India. Despite the fact that we are a small nation, we must also ask, what about Ireland?

We should acknowledge one point in this debate. The past generations in this country were outstanding people who looked after the environment. I accept the times were different and they did not have the same challenges of industrialisation and the current threats we face. I was brought up on a small farm in the west. I can speak for all my neighbours, both urban and rural. Nobody would touch a bird's nest, no matter where it was built. A hedgerow would never be cut down. No ordinary man or woman would ever touch an historic building. In fact, it would be preserved. We must include in this debate the men and women of previous generations who went before us.

Those who are involved in Tidy Towns groups are so environmentally friendly and aware. There is a lot of goodwill and many good people. We must all work together to ensure that we make progress in this area and perhaps become a world leader. Ireland has become a world leader and champion of so many causes; let us become the champions of the world in that regard. We talk proudly about our green image and the beautiful green island we have, which attracts a lot of people here, but if things keep going the way they are, we will not be able to talk in those terms.

Deputy Catherine Martin referred to pollution from plastics. My mother who is 83 years of age is disgusted at the amount of plastic wrapping on everything when she brings her shopping home from town. That must be tackled. Incentives must be introduced to deal with the issue. We all talk about it, but not enough is happening to make sure we get rid of the scourge of plastic wrapping, which in some cases is double plastic wrapping and a box. Another scourge is tinfoil packaging. Everywhere I go now everything is in a tinfoil tray. I see all the tinfoil trays in my home, my mother's home and other homes I go into.

This is another scourge. All this tinfoil cannot be good but perhaps that is a debate for another day.

There will be impacts on health, the environment and the economy if we do not deal with this issue. However, I am very confident that our young people will insist that we, as legislators, work very closely with them to bring about major change in society. There is widespread support for their demands. They are not asking but rather demanding that we deal with this issue. They can see a major threat to our planet. However, some people still have to meet their heating needs through turf, and we must take them into account. We can control that to a degree. We can stop the turf machines from getting bigger and from doing more damage or limit turf-cutting to smaller machines to ensure that as little damage as possible is done. I do not believe we can completely remove the need for turf but things are changing rapidly. While fewer people are now cutting turf, we must recognise that it is needed because it is all some people can afford.

Fertiliser use is another issue. In a former life I was a horticulturist, which is what I trained to do in college. I like to think that I have a good understanding of this area. We have to deal with the issue of fertiliser use, particularly near our lakes and rivers. While there are some restrictions in that regard at the moment, we are going to have to tackle it properly.

I can remember a time when virtually every farmer produced an acre or half-acre of barley, wheat or oats. There were fantastic occasions when crops were sown and saved. We should encourage that again. In recent years, one has to go through a licensing system and seek permission to grow a bit of grain on the farm. Why not encourage farmers to do that again, with financial support if necessary, and have them grow an acre or two of grain, barley, wheat or oats. This is an interesting idea, which stemmed from the smaller farms. Expansion occurred and every farm got bigger, with more livestock and bigger crops. We can organise ourselves and much of this can happen on a smaller scale without people incurring a financial loss. The bigger our farms got and the more they expanded, the more difficult people found it to survive.

I acknowledge that things are happening in the area of rural transport. We have the Local Link bus service, which is a tremendous help for many communities. However, it must be expanded. I am confident that if we had a better rural transport system, many of our people would leave their cars at home to go to their local town. It might be a small measure but it would be good for biodiversity.

We have to achieve results in the area of retrofitting houses. I have spoken to Deputy Niamh Smyth about this and it is a must. We need more investment in retrofitting, which must be done on a large scale. It is crucial to feed into all of this and to ensure that we as a nation are playing our part. We must restore the budgets for bodies such as the National Parks and Wildlife Service. That area of work is becoming so important and will be important in terms of biodiversity and showing that we are really serious about this situation.

Some people might disagree with me but it is very important that we make some of these smaller changes, which I believe could have a major bearing on all of this. We must remember that the bigger companies which are doing damage will have to play their part in remedying the situation. I am talking about factory farming and that kind of thing. Bigger companies are causing more pollution and this has to be tackled. More incentives will have to be provided for electric cars as well. It is good that we are having a serious debate about this issue. We have to address these issues together and work with each other to make real progress. The younger generation will not forgive any of us if we do not do this together.

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