Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

There are immediate tasks in warming up the Irish people in delivering a solar revolution, delivering retrofitting and delivering public transport. The Deputies can laugh at that but it actually improves and transforms the quality of people's lives, which it is our job to deliver.

We have immediate projects. Rather than having an election, I believe we should spend our time delivering a future broadcasting funding mechanism to deal with one of the biggest challenges of our time, which is the misinformation and disinformation that is widespread across the land and across the world. We have to deliver that before the summer recess, as we have all agreed. We have to deliver what the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, has set in train, that is, a way of managing international protection and the people coming into our country in a way that works for all of our people. There is immediate work to be done on that and it cannot wait for an election and whatever period of time that takes. I would prefer for us to deliver that now. I would prefer to deliver and go to Government, as I intend in the coming weeks, on a strategy and an approach towards a just transition and towards a sustainable future which really picks up on that partnership model. I would prefer to bring that legislation to the House rather than going to an immediate election.

We have work to do, each party here. Show me a party which is prepared for an election, which has a manifesto already written, which has the answer to the key questions of our time in terms of how we go to 90% emissions reduction by 2040 and how we deliver further advances in housing and health. We should spend time thinking about that but, first, we have two elections we need to give due attention and respect to rather than calling for an immediate general election.

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