Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

-----and a few nod-and-wink Independents. That is what they are. They will come in here and give out about it, but they will vote for it at the end of the day.

There is a need for emergency funding for toilet facilities on beaches in west Cork. Local authorities say they cannot afford to put bins on the side of the street. The country will be covered in litter. There is no money. Where is the money going to come from for that or for public transport? Does the Minister of State expect someone like me to support the Government's attack on rural Ireland and on motorists? Instead of a three-mile limit for people to be collected from school the Government will have to cut it down to 1 km to give parents an opportunity for their children to be collected from their homes and brought to school. That is how the Government will win over the people of rural Ireland, not by fining them in their pocket and swiping it out of their wallet. The Government's plan at the moment is to insulate Dublin by crucifying west Cork, and I will not stand for that for a moment in this Chamber or anywhere else either.

I was saddened to hear a Deputy from west Cork say that Deputies will be delighted when extra jobs come from this Bill. Of course we would be delighted if there were, but what he forgot to say is that in west Cork we lost five jobs under the warmer homes schemes three or four months ago, and there was not a whisper out of this Government. This scheme was supposed to provide insulation in homes. It is the biggest con job that was ever known to mankind. That Deputy is quite happy to say jobs will be created, but we have lost them already. Some people are waiting for two years to get their home insulated.

We will be tabling amendments to ensure this works out the way it should work out and not the way the Government has it. Has the Government decided what it is going to do about insulation? The VAT should be cut from 23% to zero if the Government really wants the scheme to work and to heat people's homes through insulation. Imagine people trying to buy insulation with 23% VAT when the Green Party is in government. There is nothing in the Bill to address that. All the Government wants is money from the pockets of the people in rural Ireland. We will watch this Bill and name it for what it is.

The tourism sector needs protection from increased costs in aviation. The Minister said he is going to shove up costs. The Government is saying the cost of flights into this country will not affect tourism. Of course it will affect tourism. Will Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Deputies wake up and come out of the fog where they are at the moment? Are they so hoodwinked by power that they will sell anything to get this across the line?

The Minister says there will be no negative impact on road building. I sincerely hope that is the case. There has been no road building in Cork South-West for the past 20 years since the Skibbereen bypass was put in place. Nothing has been done with the Innishannon bypass or the Bandon bypass. The only thing we will get is a bit of money for pothole repair. My God, the parties in government should be proud of themselves. As for the new expert group, this is the new Dáil - shove it over to an expert group. Is it going to be made up of farm organisations, rural dwellers, rural communities and rural transport? No, it will be made up of collar and tie pencil pushers from the Green Party. That is what we are going to have in this country.

I would like to speak about REAP, the results-based environment-agri pilot project scheme. How could any of the Green Party's senior Ministers in Cabinet approve of a REAP scheme that is coming before the people of west Cork and the people of Ireland which disallows heather? In the name of God, what is wrong with the Green Party? The party will have rural Ireland on fire thanks to its carry-on. It is time to wake up and see what is going on. The Government has approved of a scheme whereby farmers will get less money, and if they have heather on their land, they are excluded. That is a scandal beyond belief. That is what is before the people.

The Government tells me that this is going to do some good for the people of rural Ireland. For the love of God, wake up. If the Government does not approve of our amendments, we will make sure it will be dragged through the country for what it will do with the Bill. When Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the Social Democrats and the Labour Party, the usual gang – they are all the one – and probably Sinn Féin and a few nod-and-wink Independents knock on the doors at the next election, how will they answer the man and woman who tell them they cannot afford the home heating bill? They are supporting driving the price through the roof. What will they do when people tell them they cannot afford the fuel bill for the car, as the price of diesel and petrol has gone through the roof? What will they do when people tell them they cannot get a bale of Irish briquettes, but they can get a German one? What will they do when people tell them they cannot get a bag of Irish peat moss at the nurseries, but they can get a South African bag at an extra cost? What will they do when people tell them they cannot fell or grow forestry, but they can get timber in from Russia? How will the politicians look them in the eye and say they voted for the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill, which will heavily penalise rural Ireland? It was they who supported the carbon tax Bill that penalised rural Ireland so we could insulate the high-class Dublin. If the politicians tell the truth at the doorstep or tell a lie, they should be prepared to run as the public are watching and seething that Deputies are coming in here and blindly supporting the Bill without serious amendments. They are simply with the birds and not with the people.

The Government is saying that this will not be an attack on agriculture. In a recent front-page article in the Irish Farmers' Journalthe heading was "Climate Bill threatens national herd".

It is not Deputy Michael Collins that said this; it is the Irish Farmers' Journal.

It went on to state that up to 53% of the suckler herd, or 530,000 cattle, would have to be culled by 2030 to meet emissions targets. It continued to state that with a 51% target reduction by 2030, the livestock sector is facing significant challenges. It also stated that targets would be counted for the first five-year period from 2021 and that cutting the national cattle herd suggested a scenario where 536,000 suckler cows would be culled by 2030. Under the climate Bill targets published this week, a potential cull could be substantially bigger and affect dairy and suckler herds.

This is independent research; it is not from Deputy Michael Collins. Fianna Fáil has told us there will be no problem, and Find Gael has said this is all pie in the sky and there will be a great boost for agriculture. For God's sake, who do they think they are codding? The Bill would be highly destructive to every facet of the economy, including the agrifood sector which employs 164,400 people. The Bill aims to cut carbon emissions by 51% by 2030 and meet net zero emissions by 2030 but makes no exception for the agrifood sector. As a result, the national cattle herd faces a 51% cull by 2030.

According to independent research this will mean culling 3.4 million cattle. A farmer with 50 cattle today will only be allowed 24 in 2030. This crushing and counteractive move will destroy family farms. For example, the Mercosur trade deal will allow 99,000 tonnes of beef to come into the EU from countries like Brazil. Ireland should not worry because the Government will back that. New research from Oxford University highlights this would in fact be more environmentally destructive than home-grown beef, thus underlining the stupidity of the Government's approach. It is truly astonishing that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael would agree to such drastic proposals which would see our meat coming from the opposite side of the world instead of from local farms.

A Fine Gael Deputy referred to Shakespeare during this debate, but I will keep it Irish. All Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and Green Party Deputies and the rest who will support the Bill should remember the words Eamon de Valera said about the great Michael Collins, "It is my considered opinion that in the fullness of time history will record the greatness of Michael Collins and it will be recorded at my expense." Let me tell Deputies this. It is my considered opinion that in the fullness of time, history will record that this Bill was the biggest attack on agriculture and rural Ireland and will be at the expense of every man, woman and child living in rural Ireland.

See this speech in context