Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It appears the panic light finally lit up in the Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil headquarters when they realised they had crossed a line with the Irish people, who are absolutely fed up with the nonsensical and detached policies the Green Party is imposing on us in rural Ireland morning, noon and night. The Green Party is acting as if it is the conscience of the country. It is high time for the rural Deputies in Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael to stand up for their constituents. The Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, has no right to dictate to people on how they should heat their homes. In my county, 38% of people are dependent on fossil fuels, mainly turf. These are not just elderly people. They are families with no other source of heating. How dare the Green Party try to create such hardship? When I heard about the ban, I thought it was a late April fools joke. It is a joke. Limiting it to villages with a population of 500 or more is still a joke. It is not acceptable. We will continue to burn turf in rural Ireland whether the Minister likes it or not.

I want to make the Minister and Sinn Féin aware that I and my Rural Independent Group colleagues have tabled an amendment to this motion. Our amendment calls on the Government to provide an explicit commitment that it will ensure the sale, marketing and distribution of turf at voluntary or commercial level will be permitted permanently. We are not giving up our traditions for the Minister's vanity project that is going nowhere. We want this to be permitted permanently. We do not want it to be kicked down the road by any Government or party. The Government must make a firm and permanent commitment to the people of rural Ireland. That is what we are seeking.

The amendment also calls on the Government to investigate the possibility of categorising turf use as a protected cultural practice under such instruments as the Council of Europe framework convention on the value of cultural heritage for society, also known as the Faro Convention. I raised this issue with the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, through a parliamentary question. To the best of my knowledge, one year later I have not received a response. The Government thinks it can do what it likes and that it is not accountable to us as politicians and fellow Deputies, or to the people of rural Ireland, but it will not get away with this one. It is not happening - not now; not ever.

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