Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, does not have a monopoly on the environment. Farmers have adapted a lot of new and valuable methods, be it for spreading slurry, storing slurry, spreading under the nitrates directive or spreading less fertiliser. They have been doing their best at a great cost. They were told to increase their herds by the then Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Coveney, seven or eight years ago. Now they are being told they must reduce their herd by 51%. That is not fair or right.

It must be remembered that climate change can occur for many reasons. One reason is that the sun comes closer to the earth at different times when they rotate.

This has happened several times and it creates an increase in climate change. We are now told data centres will use 30% of our electricity by 2027 or 2028. There was no just transition when Bord na Móna was closed down. I cannot see how anyone could be proud of this. It was supported by the other Government parties, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. To think they allowed Bord na Móna to be closed down. At the present time, in case the Minister does not know, timber is being drawn from south Kerry to Roscommon to keep some power plant there going because it cannot get turf. If we did not keep that power plant going, some parts of the country or many parts of it would be without electricity.

I support alternative energy and many people do. However, the wind is not reliable and we cannot ensure continuity of power from the wind when it does not blow, nor can we store the wind when we have too much of it. We have to be fair and the Bill is not fair. Farmers are being given no chance to measure the carbon they are sequestering. It is said it will take seven years but, at the same time, the Minister is putting this pressure on them and it is very unfair.

Rural Ireland is doing all the harm and there is no word about urban Dublin. The Minister was proud that he was getting a carbon tax to put new buses on the road. Where are they? They are in Dublin. If we look out the gate of the Dáil any day, and I was there for a few minutes the other day, several big double-deck buses pass with one or two people in them. They are passing each other up and they are passing each other down. There are three or four of them behind each other. Why does the Minister not suggest pedestrianising Dublin to take some of the pressure out of the city? If we are speaking about carbon, this is where the carbon is. It is not on the top of Moll's Gap. It is not in Ballinskelligs or in The Pocket in Glenmore or below in the Black Valley. I can tell the Minister there are no fumes there.

Dublin has public transport and we do not have it. People cannot move around without cars or vehicles. We need lorries to bring produce into our county from places such as Dublin. We need transport but the Minister will charge us carbon tax. At the same time, most of the carbon is being created in Dublin. The Minister does not mind this because it is his constituency and he does not give one damn about rural Ireland, rural Kerry or anywhere else. People come from all over the world to see the greenery in Kerry. We have more greenery in Kerry than any part of Dublin city. People come to see it but we are not getting credit for it.

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