Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am proud of the input Sinn Féin had in tabling amendments to this Bill. The essence of our amendments are about what "just transition" should mean. I am bitterly disappointed with the just transition aspect of the Bill and I assured my constituents in north Kildare that we would do everything we could to define it. This Bill is the easy part. I have no doubt that it will pass but it is important that we get the just transition and climate justice parts of it right. The Irish people are sensible about this. Everybody knows we are in the middle of climate change and I believe if there is fairness in this Bill, people will be prepared to put their shoulders to the wheel and make sure we do what we can to save our climate.

Many experts have appeared before the Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action. Scotland has got it right. It had a whole section on the principles of just transition. A Government could stand over those principles and be held accountable for achieving them. What we need here is not just tinkering around the edges. We need a complete transformation of how we think and act in this country. We need the support of the people and without justice at the centre of this Bill, we will not get that support. Whatever roaring and shouting will go on here tonight will be nothing like the roaring and shouting that will go on over the next few years. We cannot have that. The Minister should accept the Sinn Féin amendments and ensure that a fair and just transition and climate justice are parts of this Bill. Those elements should be put front and centre, as my colleague, Deputy O'Rourke, has said. By accepting amendment No. 1, people would know exactly what the intent of this Bill is.

No previous generation has faced what we are facing. Our 21st century society must be one in which communities have a say. They should see themselves as a part of the solution and as a part of nature, not separate from it. Just transition is not only about energy and carbon budgets, it is equally about ethics. I hope the Minister will accept some of the amendments. This was the reason the Green Party went into government. It is a considerable improvement on the Bill that the climate committee received just before Christmas. Plenty of experts came before the committee and told us it was for the regulation zone. I hope the Minister is not going to take the attitude he took on Committee Stage by saying he will not accept any amendments. I hope he will accept some of our amendments. Climate change is going to transform our lives. Covid-19 was merely a dress rehearsal for what is ahead of us. I urge the Minister to accept these amendments.

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