Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing time with Deputy Costello. I am pleased to support this very progressive and important law, which is so badly needed and has for so long been campaigned for by many in this country, particularly young people. I wanted to take this opportunity to speak about the positive elements of the legislation but I need to respond to some of the outlandish actions of Deputies in the Chamber. I recognise that every Deputy has a mandate and is entitled to be listened to with respect, but we have to understand that the Bill did not come out of thin air. I recognise the considerable work done by the large number of Deputies and Senators who sit on the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Climate Action, and in particular that done by my colleague Deputy Leddin. Twenty hours of public meetings with experts were held, while there were 30 hours of meetings in private session in which Deputies and Senators contributed their opinions and fought long battles with one another. They came together to try to make the legislation good and to ensure it would work for the entire country.

It has to be asked where certain Deputies who are present, who are making the most noise and have the slickest Facebook videos, were when this process was being engaged in. They were entitled to participate in the work of the joint committee, and the committee facilitated Deputies and Senators inputting into that process, even if they were not members of the committee, in recognition of the importance of this issue to all parts of Ireland, urban and rural. Deputies have come to the Chamber and said they are fighting for rural Ireland, and that they are the sole voice of rural Ireland. When the hard work was being done by the joint committee to bring the legislation forward, where were those Deputies? It is easy to be in the Chamber today when the cameras are on, when Deputies know they will get a snippet on "Six One" or a nice little video for Twitter and Facebook, but when the difficult work is being done, the boring, long hours going through the legislation section by section, that is when the real changes happen.

That is when those Deputies who are so irate today could have had an input, but they did not choose to. In the context of the important issues we are debating, it is important that be put on the record.

As the Minister with responsibility for children, I will briefly speak about our intergenerational obligation to pass this important legislation. My colleagues have spoken about our shared future but the future belongs to the next generation. That generation has led the way and brought us to where we are today, debating this important legislation. Their actions and activism over the past five years and the fact that they demanded that Deputies of all parties and Independent Deputies act on climate change in the last general election and the last European election have created the momentum that brought us here today to speak on this important legislation and to prepare the process to adopt it. This legislation copper-fastens in law the actions that we, as a society and as a country, need to take to secure their future. That is ultimately why we are here today. It is about securing the future of the next generation, of those who cannot vote today and of those who are not even born today but who, in 2050 when the real impact of climate change is felt, will be adults and starting to earn their livelihoods.

I regret that I have had to take a negative tone in my comments today. There is so much good and so much positive to speak about in this legislation but it was important to set the record straight on certain issues.

See this speech in context