Dáil debates

Thursday, 5 May 2022

Regulations for the Sale and Distribution of Turf: Motion [Private Members]

 

5:15 pm

Photo of Thomas PringleThomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

My colleague, Deputy Fitzmaurice, has outlined, in depth, the very real concerns that exist on this issue, and has further outlined solutions that would go a long way to allay those concerns as they relate to the proposed regulations in the short term. We know he has an indepth understanding of the issue, as he is someone who has toiled at the coalface - no pun intended - or turf face of this line of work for many years. He is giving voice accurately to the thoughts and feelings of many people up and down the country here today. Yet, I have to ask the question of how we arrived at this point. Why, in relation to climate action initiatives, do we always appear to arrive at a similar point of conflict? No Member of this House can rationally dispute the fact that climate breakdown is happening; that climate change is the defining issue for our country and for our society; and that it requires us all, as a nation, as a society and, importantly, as communities, to face this thing head-on. It requires brave political decisions. However, condemning a cohort of people in this country into poverty does not qualify as a brave political decision. The finger-pointing and whataboutery of those on the Government benches towards the Opposition, on this issue, cheapens the discourse, and does a disservice to the issue of climate action. It would suit the Minister and his colleagues better to acknowledge the broad support they have enjoyed from across both Houses of the Oireachtas in setting targets and embracing initiatives on climate, when they have been well-founded and fair. It is quite simple in my mind. Measures must be poverty-proofed. They cannot and should not widen inequality. They should not pit sections of our society against each other. I take on board what the Minister has said in his response today. That is vitally important.

A just transition must be more than an empty formula of words that are trotted out now and then, when it suits. It has to be at the centre of Government thinking on all such proposals if it is to get the buy-in and understanding of people, especially in rural communities such as Donegal, where there is still a higher-than-average reliance on fossil fuels, such as turf, to provide domestic heating. A sustainable, affordable alternative must be put in place before the rug is pulled from under those people. The consequence of poor policy, as we have seen many times, is to leave yourself a hostage to fortune, to climate deniers peddling glib lines and false promises of return to some bygone utopia at the expense of any chance of a future. I passionately want that future for my children and future generations of Irish citizens. However, the Minister will not achieve his goals in the short, medium or long term if the Government continues to act like only it knows best, and that we should all just be compliant and silent to its superior understanding of what is good for us. It does not wash with people. The Minister must see that. It is a demeaning way of trying to get things done. More importantly, it is failing, and will continue to fail.

Another thing that has struck me about the political discourse on this issue is the simplistic idea that this is some dastardly Machiavellian three-card trick pulled off by the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communication and the Greens over their colleagues in Government. There has been little challenge to this empty rhetoric in the media. Indeed, it appears to suit Deputies in Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to let the Minister defend the Government decision on his own, in the hope of distancing themselves from it with their silence. People are not stupid. They can see the cack-handed, divisive, inequality-loving fingerprints of Fine Gael and the last-minute, ill-judged, back-of-an-envelope-job trademark of Fianna Fáil all over this mess.

In conclusion, it is obvious to all of us in this House that we have to fully decarbonise our energy consumption, not just domestic heating, in the short to medium term. Will the burning of all fossil fuels end? It will. Can it be achieved unfairly on the backs of people in rural Ireland? No, it cannot. This Government, and previous ideological carbon copy iterations of the same, have had years to bring forward solutions on this issue. We, in the Opposition, have consistently called for a fabric-first approach, for just, equitable and affordable solutions. Yet, the Government has not come forward with them. I earnestly advocate for the Minister to go back to the drawing board and come back in here to present us with a proper solution. In the interim, I ask him to listen to the ideas put forward in this motion by Deputy Fitzmaurice, and commit to exploring those solutions fully, as I note he said he would in his contribution. That is vitally important, because it is a way this will be delivered. People will but into, go along with, and accept, the decision. They will accept other decisions that will be difficult to take in the future as well.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.