Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

On carbon taxation, we have brought in a broad measure that will do two things. It will disincentivise the use of fossil fuel over time and it will also give us the resources to retrofit the homes of ordinary people in this country to enable them to reduce heating costs on a sustainable basis over a long period. There are very ambitious plans there in terms of the thousands of houses that we want to retrofit through grant schemes and retrofitting local authority houses and social housing more generally. That is a step change from anything that has been put forward before. There will be significant challenges in terms of delivery and so on, but we are determined to do it.

On big oil and gas, we have taken steps in this country in the legislation that we have passed to forbid the issuing of future oil and gas exploration licences.

We have taken that step and this is happening with increasing regularity. Fossil fuels are a big enemy here but we have to make a transition over time and do it in a realistic way.

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