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

Obviously, we are pushing forward with our amendments. They are of huge importance to the people we represent. I have spoken at length already on our amendments and other amendments, in fairness, that we would give serious consideration to.

I am disappointed that 238 amendments have been rejected, including our 75. Our amendments are very fair. I would not mind if the Minister rejected some of them. That is understandable.

However, one of the amendments called for a 0% VAT rate on insulation products. That is what the Minister should be trying to achieve - encouraging people to insulate their homes and make them warmer so that not as much fuel is used, be it home heating oil, coal or briquettes. People cannot get briquettes from Ireland anyway and would have to bring them in from Germany to get any, but that is another legacy of the Green Party.

The Minister had an opportunity to consider the Rural Independent Group's amendments and must surely have looked at them. How can he then turn around and say he will not support any of them? If he did not support a 0% rate, it would have been fair for him to say he would cut it from 23% to 5%, 6% or 7%, but there was not a budge. In his head, our amendments were not to be supported no matter what we put before the House.

The two-year wait for the warmer homes scheme must be addressed. We felt that this Bill should have done so. People across my constituency are upset that they do not qualify because the criteria are set so high. Even if they can qualify, no one will come to insulate their homes before two years have passed.

Unfortunately, we will not get a chance to discuss other amendments relating to the agricultural sector. Experts have stated that we will face a 50% cull of the national herd. The former chair of the Climate Change Advisory Council, Professor John FitzGerald, stated that a dramatic reduction in livestock numbers was the only way to meet the targets the Government had set. The council proposed a figure of 3.4 million cattle by 2030. New Zealand is considering a 15% cull. That would be a disaster for the people of New Zealand, but we can only look after the people of Ireland.

We talk about creating new schemes. Even though it is a pilot, the new rural environment protection scheme, REPS, disqualifies people who have shrubs on their land. People believed that the Green Party being in government would protect them in this regard, but it has not. From listening to Deputies in the Chamber, I can tell that many of them are not from an agricultural background when they go on about new environmental schemes. There is also the organic scheme, but the Minister has failed to do anything with it.

Speaking to the amendment, people are finding it difficult to pay bills and put food on their tables. More and more people are coming to my clinics at the weekend, and I meet others or talk to them on the phone. They are struggling for their very survival. They do not see a way out. I see no way out in this Bill. I only see more difficulties for the people of rural Ireland because of it.

Our amendments also addressed the tourism sector. We are concerned because, if there is any increase in the cost of aviation fuel, it will damage the sector in west Cork. We have seen many difficulties due to Covid, so we cannot accept such damage. I want to protect beautiful areas like Clonakilty, Mizen Head, Castletownbere, Kinsale, Skibbereen, Bantry and Kilcrohane for people to visit. We need to encourage tourism, not discourage it. We wanted to move a serious amendment in that regard.

We had good amendments on public transport. If I wanted to attend a meeting in Dublin at 11 a.m. or 12 noon, I would be lucky to make it if I left that day. I would have to leave the day before. We do not have public transport in place in rural Ireland, and I do not see where in the Bill that will change. If it does not change, it will be catastrophic because the Minister is, with the support of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, supporting fuel price increases through the carbon tax. The carbon tax hit the pockets of only one group of people, namely, the people of rural Ireland. No solution has been provided, so there is no gain. Greenway funding has been sprinkled around the country, although every brown cent of it avoided coming to west Cork.

If the Minister wants to raise the price of fuels through carbon tax and hit the consumer in the pocket, he has to deliver something for them. He has to give people public transport. All of these matters are covered by our amendments. We were fair in our amendments, for example, setting a 1 km limit for children whereby anyone living 1 km or more away from school would get free transport. We need proper public transport. With his West Cork Connect business, Mr. Damien Long is trying to provide a service in the early morning from west Cork to Cork city so that people might link up with trains and so on. We need proper services that are funded properly. We have tabled amendments to ensure that happens on the ground, but the Minister is refusing to accept them. We will continue to fight for the ordinary people who are suffering so much.

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