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

I will not repeat the adjectives used by the Deputy, but I think he will find, in his objections to this Bill, that An Taisce is probably one of his best friends. An Taisce has warned that the Bill is part of a growing European and British trend that is intentionally rolling back on democratic legal norms. Did the Attorney General, Rossa Fanning, privately tell the Government that this Bill gave the appearance of being led by developers? If he did, the Minister should say that to the House in his response because for many of us it looks like a developer-led Bill. It is the third largest Bill in the history of the State, and it is being rushed through tonight. It is extraordinary and it is disgraceful. Centralised powers are being given to the Government and to Ministers to make variations to development plans that, as has been said, are put together by democratically elected councillors in local authorities.

Progressive moves in those local development plans can be blocked. Initiatives in each local government plan can be blocked by Government and-or a Minister.

Some of this Bill's harshest critics are not exactly eco-warriors or tree huggers, as they are often denigrated and called. They include the Law Society of Ireland, the Bar Association, the United Nations Aarhus compliance committee and the Irish Planning Institute.

This Bill now includes last-minute amendments that we probably will not get to because of the guillotine. These amendments are disgraceful and, if passed this evening, will mean that LNG planning applications will be fast-tracked through the planning process. It says everything about the Green Party in government with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael over the past four years that it ends with it trying to ram through laws to enable new fossil fuel infrastructure, which flows from the Government's energy review last November. That review made clear that the Government's main concern is to ensure an even greater energy supply for continued unlimited growth of energy-hungry data centres and that essentially their needs are being prioritised over the more important goals we should have of decarbonisation and reducing our energy usage.

In 2021, I introduced the Planning and Development (Climate Emergency Measures) Bill as well as an amendment to that Bill and all the Green Party Deputies voted against it. All of them said that it was a distraction and that LNG would never be introduced. Even at this late stage, we would call on the Green Party to change its course and vote against this entire Bill. Even if it comes to triggering a general election, which everybody knows is around the corner any way, they should let the people decide on something that is crucial for our future and make it an election issue. The years of greenwashing, ramming through fancy ads and trying to convince us that LNG would not be brought in are now coming to an end. Research published last week in a science and energy journal shows us that LNG is much more worse than coal because it traps heat in the atmosphere 80 times more than carbon dioxide. If it does that, it is no wonder we are witnessing the worst hurricanes on record in the US, the worst floods on record across Europe and indeed the hottest days ever.

I will finish my meagre contribution by quoting from an article published on the Ditch website, which I know the Minister's party loves. It was written by a very eminent environmentalist named Sinéad Mercier. She says that "despite all the climate policy pronouncements, expensive ad campaigns and new climate legislation, government is setting in train the largest amount of high carbon infrastructure ever built in the history of the state." She writes:

The bill exposes an unpleasant state philosophy. As Ireland can no longer fully rely on its low tax rate to attract international finance, it has intensified an existing parallel strategy: offering up the country’s infrastructure and landscape for global value extraction.

She goes on to write:

If disagreement over a bank bailout is worth collapsing a government over, surely the same standards apply to bailing out the fossil fuel industry. This government is in its final stages with an election announcement due any day. There is little to be lost and all to be gained from blocking this intolerable legislation.

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