David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this matter and allowing me to speak to it. The ice in the Antarctic and in Greenland is melting at an alarming rate, as was stated in a joint report published in Ireland last year by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Marine Institute. That report, in a finding similar to that of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, found that sea levels are, as a result, rising at a startling rate. It is really frightening. John Englander, a climatologist and oceanographer, wrote a book called Moving to Higher Ground, which I would recommend to anybody who is interested in this topic. It is truly frightening.

In my constituency, for example, Midleton, Youghal, Cobh and Shanagarry will be impacted, as will Waterford, Westport and Galway. This is going to happen; it cannot be stopped. I have read a lot about this issue. The sea levels are going to continue rising. We can talk about climate change, reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and so on, but that will not impact on this at all. The sea levels are going to continue to rise. The UK has established a flood and coastal erosion risk management strategy action plan and it is in place. The Dutch saw this coming - they would have, of course - and in 2008, they established a serious action plan.

As for what will happen when the sea continues to rise, the predictions are quite frightening. It is difficult to predict but scientists say that by the end of the century, sea levels could have risen by 1 m. We might not think that is a lot, but the impact that would have on our towns, cities and utilities would be very significant. When the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage launched the national coastal change management strategy steering group in 2020, he stated 2 million people in Ireland could be impacted, as well as all our major cities and utilities, and that cannot be stopped. We have to start planning for it now. We have to ask what we can do. For instance, can people who live in an area that might be flooded get insurance for their homes? Can property be insured in case that happens, which it will? What can we do? Will we put strategies in place to protect property or should we all, as John Englander suggested in his book, move to higher ground? There is no point waiting until the sea water is up to our knees and then saying we should have planned for this 20 years ago. Now is the time to put a plan in place with a series of actions and strategies to mitigate this. There is no point waiting until it is too late.

I am anxious that the national coastal change management strategy steering group would report soon in order that we can debate its recommendations in the House, analyse them and put in place an action plan, as is the case in the UK, the US and elsewhere. Even the US Department of Defense stated in 2016 that the country needed to start planning then, and it did so. Many parts of the world could disappear, including Florida and Bangladesh. Many cities throughout the world will be under threat, but we have to look after our own patch in Ireland. We should not confuse the reduction in greenhouse gases with the real challenge of dealing with increased flooding from the rising sea. They are different things. This is going to happen. The volume of ice melting at an alarming and increasing rate is really scary.

See this speech in context