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

COP28 reached agreement this morning and while it fell short of saying it, we must agree that the cornerstone of climate action must be based on an end to fossil fuels and a just transition at global and national levels. A report published last week by Dublin's energy agency, Codema, concluded that the poorest communities cannot afford to give up fossil fuels and risk being worse off via climate action measures. They are paying carbon tax but cannot afford to retrofit their homes. Some 16% of households are solely dependent on solid fuels, coal, sticks and turf. In some areas, it is as high as 40%. One thing the Government could do to help these households to move away from fossil fuels and to ensure they are not worse off due to climate action measures is to introduce a dedicated retrofitting scheme specifically targeted at households, including those in rented accommodation, dependent on solid fuels. This is a measure Sinn Féin has proposed for some time and set out in our alternative budget this year. Will the Government adopt the proposal?

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