Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Independent Group for bringing this motion. It seeks to go some way towards filling a vacuum left by the Government when it jumped, so dreadfully ill-prepared, to announce a ban on the sale and distribution of turf. The motion seeks to clarify what is meant by "turbary rights"; those can come in different ways and forms and the motion seeks to exempt certain identified groups. It also calls on the Government to work with the industry to look at the standard and performance of turf and its comparison with so-called acceptable solid fuels.

The fact that we are debating this motion at this stage and that it is an Opposition motion shows how Government has failed so miserably in the basic business of Government: planning; preparation; engagement; support; and communication. Despite lots of talk about the issue of turf and lots of pontification and vilification, the truth is the Government made a hames of this and it has no one but itself to blame. The vast majority of people using turf are living in rural Ireland, often in colder homes. Many earn too much to qualify for the free energy upgrades and have little to no disposable income that they can put towards a retrofit of their homes, even with the 50% grant. Even for those who qualify for the free energy upgrades, there is a two-year waiting list with a backlog of 7,000 people and Government is making slow progress towards addressing that backlog. When the Government's half-baked plan was brought forward, devoid of the basic statistics on energy poverty and turf use and containing no proposed alternatives, people had a right to be concerned and the Opposition had a right to challenge the Government to do better. We all recognise the need to move from fossil fuels to environmentally friendly alternatives. That is not in dispute but the Government needs to work with people to assist them through this major energy transition.

A just transition is a critical component of climate action. It means bringing together workers, communities, employers and Government in social dialogue to drive the concrete plans, policies and investments needed for a fair and fast transformation to a low carbon economy and to ensure employment and jobs in the new economy are as decent and well-paid as those left behind. This Government refused to accept our amendments to the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021, which would have defined a just transition and climate justice and ensured the climate action plan was drafted with reference to just transition principles. It was a real shame that the Government refused our constructive suggestions and the resulting climate policies are weaker as a result. The same can be said of the amendments brought forward by Deputy Whitmore on the Circular Economy, Waste Management (Amendment) and Minerals Development (Amendment) Bill 2022 earlier this week that were opposed. The amendments sought that just transition principles would be included in that Bill but they were opposed by the Government.

Most of the Government's policies are missing that key just transition element and that is a choice and decision of the Government. The midlands was the first major area promised a just transition as the peat-burning power stations were wound down. Unfortunately, jobs, reskilling and investment have not materialised and communities feel left behind. They feel they were sold a pup because they were. This is another reason the Government's proposed ban on the sale of turf went down so poorly. It did so because those it will impact are centralised in the midlands in particular, with this motion highlighting that in some counties up to 34% of households are solely dependent on turf as solid fuel. There is a level of mistrust that is of the Government's own making and it is important that the Government seeks to address it. It is doing real harm to the climate agenda. From this Government, as with previous Governments, people see failure, hypocrisy and inequity.

The urgent need to tackle climate change is not in question. We all know we need to move urgently towards a zero carbon society and economy and this will take action from individuals, businesses and the State. The Government is failing in its responsibility. It is high on rhetoric and low on delivery and at the heart of every scheme it designs is inequity. Yesterday, for example, the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, highlighted a 6.3% growth in energy-related carbon dioxide emissions last year. This is extremely worrying considering we need to reduce overall emission by 4.7% each year in the first half of this decade to meet our 2030 emissions reductions targets. Slow action and input to policies are contributing to this move in the wrong direction. On the one hand the Minister is telling ordinary people to cut energy use while on the other hand doing nothing to curb the uncontrolled growth of energy-sapping data centres. Data centres are already using more electricity than all rural houses combined and this is set to more than double out to 2030. People see the hypocrisy in Government policy and action and they will not stand for it.

See this speech in context