Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I accept the Minister of State's commitment, but I remain sceptical. He did not address the abandonment of the programme for Government commitment to establishing a just transition commissioner. Our annual transition statements highlight the inadequacies of actions so far. Our society and economy need major change. That is possible and is something that can and should be done. We need the Government to take substantial and brave leadership and we need a unified approach.

Regrettably, in response to the Climate Change Advisory Council's report, we saw the same old narrative of climate action versus rural Ireland. Farmers know that we need climate action. They are among the cohorts most vulnerable in Ireland and they deserve more respect. Policies over recent decades have decimated small family farms. Those clinging to a business-as-usual model are putting us at considerable climate risk and squandering opportunities to protect rural living, spinning the false narrative that the current model favours farmers when it does not. Rather, it favours large agribusiness, including the likes of Larry Goodman and supermarkets. Ms Alannah Wrynn, a young climate activist from Clonakilty, summed it up. She stated:

This idea of the division between activists and farmers shouldn't be there at all. With a just transition to a more sustainable way of food production it's important that farmers are given the opportunity to become educated about it and that they actually have financial support.

Currently, the system does not support farmers. Rather, it incentivises them to do the opposite of taking climate action. The Minister of State knows as well as I do that the small environmental pilot scheme under the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine will not cut it where the targets that we need to meet are concerned.

The COP26 commitments on deforestation are welcome, but how are we going to meet them when there are serious backlogs in the issuing of forestry licences in Ireland? Despite assurances from the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Minister of State at that Department last year when they passed very questionable legislation on forestry, that legislation has not resolved the problems restricting afforestation efforts and preventing communities from planting trees. How does the Government propose to end deforestation when it is taking two to three years to get a licence to plant trees?

In terms of transport, the Minister of State knows the scale of investment in accessible public transport and active travel infrastructure that is needed in rural Ireland. It has not been allocated. We all know that we are not going far enough.

These are just three examples from a litany of sectoral issues that need to be addressed in an effective action plan. We need an ambitious plan that will tackle vested interests and get all of government, civil society and private enterprise working towards our climate goals.

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