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

People also come to west Cork to see the beautiful greenery, as the Minister does, but he has forgotten this when it comes to the Bill. The Bill is a complete attack on rural Ireland. I want to speak on the amendments. To think that 239 amendments were tabled, 75 of which were tabled by the Rural Independent Group, and the Minister is going to reject every one of them. Does he think we do not care? Does he think we did not meet climate action groups in west Cork who advised me on the right way to roll out a good climate action Bill? I have brought it forward to the Dáil and the Minister has rejected every one of our amendments.

I cannot speak on behalf of Sinn Féin and other groups and they will speak on their own amendments. Perhaps the Minister will change his mind because he still has a chance to do so. Perhaps he will decide not to railroad through the Bill and will sit down with the groups and parties and disagree with some but agree with more. They come from the heart of our constituencies and communities. This is what we represent. It is a scandalous shame today. Deputies who tabled amendments to the Bill and vote for it this evening should go back to their constituencies and speak to the people who elected them. They will never be forgotten or forgiven for what they have done. There is no point in us representing our constituents and the people who come from our areas. Decent hard-working people brought forward amendments to us to make sure we made the Bill even better but the Minister idly sits here and says "No" to every one of them.

Every one of the Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael backbenchers, whether a Deputy or Senator, is patting the Minister on the back. What kind of a deal did they do a year ago to get the Green Party across the line? The Bill is an appalling attack on rural Ireland and I advise everyone who tabled an amendment to vote against it this evening and let the blame be with the backbenchers for what they have done. We will hold them to account on every one of these amendments in the years to come. I assure the Minister I certainly will do so.

I want to speak about the amendments on just transition. The Bill is being railroaded. We are paying a high price for having the Green Party in government. The Minister has a dream that there should be two cars in every village. I live every day in rural Ireland. I know this cannot work and will never work. It is a dream the Minister wants to achieve and he does not care how it is done. He will look for support for a carbon tax and he will hit the ordinary mother and father going to work every morning and young people trying to take their children to school. The Minister will hit them in the pocket and keep hitting them in rural Ireland so we can insulate Dublin. We can look after the Minister's constituents. It is a rich idea and great idea for the Minister.

Imagine the people looking to warm their homes in a warmer home scheme for two years. We have tabled an amendment to break this down to at least two months but the Minister refused to accept it. Imagine a situation where people are paying 23% VAT on insulation for warmer home products. We want it reduced to 0%. Why did the Minister not bring forward a proposal to reduce it to 5% or 6%? Some people could afford to buy insulation products to insulate their homes and try to meet the targets the Minister is telling us we must meet but that amendment is of no use because it would help the ordinary people of rural Ireland to meet the terms.

I do not have much speaking time but I want to talk about agriculture. I have heard Deputies from Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil saying it has nothing at all to do with agriculture, not to worry and move on and say nothing. The former chair of the Climate Change Advisory Council, Professor John FitzGerald, has warned that the only way agriculture will meet these targets is through a dramatic reduction in livestock numbers. This is in black and white and not from me or the other members of the Rural Independent Group. The Minister would love to think this is what we would be saying but it is not. It is the former chair of the Climate Change Advisory Council.

The Climate Change Advisory Council previously called for the culling of 3.4 million cattle by 2030. Today, a Deputy said farm groups had their eyes off the ball and now they are running around dramatically but they had their eyes off the ball on this one. We must remember the farm organisations in New Zealand had their eyes off the ball when the Green Party there pulled a fast one and now it is calling for a 15% cull of cattle in New Zealand. The truth is being found out as this goes on. We will be here to follow through on how the Minister is treating people in this.

The Climate Change Advisory Council will be the new Dáil. Move the blame game away. It was the same with the Taoiseach earlier when I mentioned the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority, SFPA, and foreign vessels that are able to come into Ireland and do what they like. He told me he had no control over the SFPA. Of course he has no control because that is the game the Government is playing. The Minister will have no control over the Climate Change Advisory Council unless he has a few buddies on it. Why will there not be an independent climate scientist on it? Is there a public policy expert on it? Is there a rural transport public policy expert on it? Will there be representatives from farm organisations?

Will there be an agricultural policy expert? Will there be a climate change economist and climate change financial analyst, and a representative to represent the interests of social justice? Will there be representatives from rural communities? The answer is "No", because the Minister has his mind made up. It will lead to the destruction of rural Ireland. I certainly will not support any part of this.

As I said when I met the climate action people in west Cork - fine decent people with whom I had many good meetings - I would support this if support for our amendments was forthcoming. I do not even know whether the Minister had read them properly. To be quite honest, it is scandalous that good parties and groups in here put forward 239 amendments and the Minister finds it in his way, and gets support from two political parties that are supporting people of rural Ireland, to refuse each one of those amendments.

We have had three or four amber alerts this year. I have a funny feeling behind the scenes the Minister is quite happy. The Minister is trying to send a message and his message is clear. It is clear that the people of rural Ireland will suffer and the Minister will be held to account for every detail of this if he has a political future in here.

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