Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

The context for this discussion is that report on the climate action plan and its progress. It is remarkable to hear a report from the Taoiseach that did not mention that the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, recently told us the first two carbon budgets will not be met. Not only will they not be met, they will not be met by a significant amount. The EPA predicts at best a 29% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. This is far short of the legally binding target of 51%. An Taisce has called this pretty hopeful and inventive accountancy. We need to acknowledge there is a disconnect between the Government, the measures that it is willing to take, the scale of the crisis and the scale of the failure to cut emissions that we are facing.

It is almost a case of denial. That was really shown up by the actions of the Taoiseach's party colleagues in the EU on the question of biodiversity loss and the habitats directive. As the evidence mounts, we can see the scale of this crisis, with marine heatwaves, record heatwaves, temperature records being broken and biodiversity loss on a massive scale, but we cannot see a business model or a political determination from the Government to deal with this. Instead, it is facilitating data corporations to build more and more through their private investments and to deny the biodiversity loss that we are facing. I would like the Taoiseach to address those urgent questions.

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