Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am glad for the opportunity to speak on this Bill. Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our generation and is, undoubtedly, an emergency. I speak as one of the younger Deputies in the House. It is very possible that I, and certainly my children, will see the severe impacts of the climate emergency unless significant and radical action is taken, not only here but on a global level. In that regard, we have a role as an exemplar to the world. There is no doubt that, if the climate emergency accelerates and-or even continues at its current rate, it will cause profound inequality at a national level but more particularly at a global level.

We are at the minute facing the enormous and profound challenge of Covid. There is the Irish phrase, "An gad is giorra don scornach is túisce is ceart a scaoileadh", "The knot closest to the throat is the first to untie". Often that can be case with our priorities in this House. That does not mean, however, that we can ignore the profound and growing challenge of climate change. It will have severe impacts. It will potentially immiserate large parts of the world which are already poorly able to adapt to it. If the right approaches are not taken in Ireland and other developed countries, it may possibly immiserate some of our poorest citizens as well. We need to make sure the actions we take will leave no one behind. The policy we take to reduce emissions must ensure those who are most able to carry the burden do so while those least able to carry the burden are spared some of that weight.

I welcomed the Bill when it was published. The pre-legislative scrutiny by the Oireachtas joint committee was limited. However, there was substantial engagement from the Sinn Féin team, which included Senator Lynn Boylan and Deputies O'Rourke and Cronin, and others on the committee. I pay tribute to them and the active role they played in bringing in experts to address the inadequacies of the draft Bill, especially in the area of just transition. Our team was proactive, bringing forward 78 recommendations to the Minister to strengthen the Bill. As a result of the recommendations, not only from Sinn Féin but many other organisations, the redraft is a significant improvement and strengthening of the legislation.

Social justice needs to be at the very heart of how we tackle climate change. There are still concerns about Bill, especially around section 6(5)(a) and whether the Bill enacts the programme for Government commitment to reduce emissions by 51% by 2030. These concerns have been raised by climate experts such as John Sweeney, Andrew Jackson and Barry McMullan. We will continue to engage with them.

The issue of climate justice and the just transition were not explicitly referred to in the earliest draft but have since been included. It is not properly defined, however. For example, my mother is from Banagher in west Offaly, a community for which Bord na Móna is a significant employer and an integral part. The concern is that you cannot have the same impact in these towns and villages like what was had when Margaret Thatcher closed the coal mines in the Durham and the rest of the north of England and Wales. Misery and deprivation were created when this employment was just whipped from these communities with no investment put in place to replace them. It left profound misery. It is vitally important we get that right. That applies not just on a localised basis but on a state-wide level in terms of policies we enact. We must ensure it is not people on the lowest incomes who face the hardest burdens and that they are protected. We must ensure those who pollute the most and who can most bear the cost do so.

As well as all of this, there is opportunity. There are areas where the transition to a low-carbon economy can aid us. One area which I noted in Cork City Council is housing. When I am canvassing, I note the housing conditions in many private rented and local authority houses are absolutely desperate. In many instances, they are the modern equivalent of squalor, being cold and with damp on the walls. This has an impact on respiratory illnesses such as asthma. We need to move the retrofit programmes on from the apartment schemes to some of the older local authority housing developments. A development in my own city, Mount Sion Road in Greenmount, was built in the 1950s and is a considerable job which urgently needs to be done. There are also old developments in Cherry Tree Road and the area around the Five Star in Togher, as well as in Mahon, Passage and Carrigaline which are urgently needed. The apartments are being retrofitted, which is welcome, but we also need to move on to the houses. An enormous amount can be done in this regard to save energy and to protect the incomes of these tenants. We need to make it easier as well for the private rented and the owner-occupied sectors. Some of the grants are welcome but sometimes they can be difficult to navigate.

How we imagine our cities plays a crucial role with emissions. We cannot keep expanding outwards and adding to the burden with an increasing number of cars on our streets. We need to develop on a denser basis within our city centres. Crucial to that is adequate public transport. I have been vocal on light rail. We need it in Cork. We used to have a tram system which was substantial at one stage. We need to get back to that. However, before we do, we need seriously to upgrade our bus system. Bus rapid transit is required along bus corridors and all communities need to benefit from that. Good work has been done in Cork with cycling and protection of pedestrians.

The taxi industry feels excluded and ignored in the transport area in general. It is also the case in the climate change area. We need to start talking to taxi drivers as partners. There are schemes for electric cars which are a welcome support for the transition to an electric fleet. However, these cars are way beyond the reach of most taxi drivers, especially after almost two years of no income for them. We need to remember they are key enablers in public transport. When I travel to Dublin by train, which I do quite regularly, it is a taxi which brings me to Kent Station in Cork and a taxi which brings me from Heuston Station in Dublin. We need to treat taxi drivers as partners in this and give them greater support.

Local authorities have large estates of property. They need to do more to ensure they are generating energy from their buildings and from their lands. Some local authorities are good in that regard. The role of green apprenticeships is crucial as well with significant potential to create a great deal of employment.

On the point made by Deputy Durkan about the grid, there are huge potential opportunities for local authorities to generate income for themselves if they can sell it back to the national grid. There are opportunities also for local communities to establish trusts to generate their own energy, to benefit from it and sell it on to the local grid. We must do much more in that regard. We will continue to critically engage with this Bill.

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