Kevin Humphreys (Labour) | Oireachtas source

The previous Government had to be dragged into having a climate change advisory council and the then Minister, Phil Hogan, resisted it at every turn, something the people on the committee will be able to tell the Leader. We need action and not words and we do not need the Taoiseach to tell us we are laggards. The action that was expected from the Citizens' Assembly and the climate change advisory committee, from Mary Robinson and John FitzGerald, was some progress on a carbon tax in this budget, but we have seen no such progress. Some people have been running around the country saying they saved rural Ireland from tax on diesel and petrol, but rural Ireland is suffering from climate change, with effects such as floods and fodder crises, and this Government is going to do sweet FA. I find that totally unacceptable. It is totally regressive and leaves future generations to pay for our folly.