Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister knows this is wrong. He knows it is the wrong thing to do and so do his fellow Deputies and Ministers. It is disgraceful they have left the Minister on his own in here this evening and have not even come in. They and councillors have taken to the airwaves throughout country, trying to detach themselves from this. It speaks to the absolute chaos in Government. In terms of going back to constituencies and to people in rural Ireland saying it was the Greens who made us do it, they need to grow up and own this.

The Minister, Deputy Ryan, has said he will change it, and you can see him backtracking. People in rural Ireland do not trust the Green Party, Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael and they have very good reason not to. People in rural Ireland have done more to address climate change than anybody else. They have done that through natural heritage area, NHAs, special protection areas, SPAs, special areas of conservation, SACs, and leaving their land as a public good. They were promised for years they would be compensated for that. They know Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party have turned their back on them, and the Minister knows it.

The Minister is now telling rural people to trust the Government and that it will only do it for the towns with more than 500 people. It just does not wash. It is disgraceful to think we are here in this day and age and are saying to people who are absolutely put to the pin of their collar that they can no longer cut turf or buy bags of turf when they need it most. Who will police all of this? It is the National Parks and Wildlife Service, our new landlords in rural Ireland.

The Government has lost rural Ireland, rural voters and rural dwellers. This is just another nail in the coffin. People are more than willing to address climate change and to play their part, but telling them in this day and age that they cannot cut turf is beyond belief. The Government parties' councillors and Deputies know it. They need to own it and stop hiding behind the skirt tails of the Minister, Deputy Ryan.

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