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

I never knew until this week that one could take a flight from Dublin to New York via Damascus. However, that is clearly what the Taoiseach did when he arrived at the UN summit to announce that he favoured banning the exploration of fossil fuels, or one fossil fuel, namely, oil. That is not possible. The Taoiseach received flawed scientific advice from the Climate Change Advisory Council and thinks he can do something he cannot. The only way to leave fossil fuels in the ground, which is what the movement is asking us to do and about which I am sure he heard them screaming right around the planet, is to allow the climate emergencies Bill I put before the Dáil to be passed. As the majority in this House have twice voted democratically in its favour, I ask the Government to issue a money message and allow the Bill to be passed. Otherwise, the Taoiseach's statement is hypocrisy, based on a Damascene conversion, which is no good to anybody. The Government must allow the Bill to be passed if it is serious about banning the exploration of fossil fuels.

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