Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the climate action plan. The devil is in the detail and I do not believe this Government has any intention of addressing the climate crisis we face, nor the energy, cost-of-living, housing and health crises. I could go on, but I only have a short time. We have a Government of crisis currently in crisis. It strikes me as a Government living on borrowed time, going through the motions and waiting for the end. The year 2030 is eight years away and yet there is no sense of urgency. I was hopeful this Government and the Greens this time around would be different, but the Greens are like the Labour Party when they get into government in that they just disappoint.

There is no point in setting targets without detailing how to achieve them and it cannot just be left up to struggling workers and families to take personal responsibility. One cannot expect working poor to afford an electric car and solar panels, especially when this Government has not even bothered to implement the European directive, which would allow them to sell excess power back to the grid. This Government is too busy sucking up to vulture funds and data centre developers to worry about ordinary people.

Is the Minister of State aware this Government is in breach of EU law? The Government has announced, on five occasions, that microgeneration is coming. It is beginning to look like the new school in Monasterevin where I live - it is coming for 20 years. The Athy distributor road was first proposed in 1975 which is 46 years ago. It had more green lights than the Long Mile Road. We need climate justice and not the flip-flopping we have seen from successive governments.

I listened with intent to Deputy Bruton. Where is the sense in offering incentives to dairy farmers to expand their herds, only to ask them to reduce them a few short years later? Where is the sense in banning peat production and allowing exports, while our own producers have to import it? We need urgent planning for an alternative to peat. Meanwhile, tree planting, about which I listened to the other Deputy talking, is at the lowest level since 1936, due to the backlog in licensing. Licences are being issued at one third of the normal rate. Time is running out for the planet and it is definitely running out for this Government. It needs to get off the stage before it does more damage.

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