Máire Devine (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Fianna Fáil was asleep but it has woken up with the threat of an election in the air and good for it.I want to talk about air pollution and climate change. A poor whale was washed up in Indonesia with 6 kg of plastic - including 25 plastic cups, 115 plastic bags and flip-flops - inside it. I do not know if there was a human attached to the flip-flops. Our air, sea and land are exposed to stuff with which they can no longer cope. We see what is happening and it is up to us to change it. I commend Deputy Thomas Pringle on the Fossil Fuel Divestment Bill. It is a brave step and I commend all Deputies who voted for it on Second Stage. Tomorrow, the Bill will proceed to Committee and Remaining Stages and I hope it will go through smoothly. We are not great in this country but the Bill leads the way globally in the context of fossil fuel divestment. What is proposed in the Bill will cause problems for people who burn fuel on a regular basis and who depend on it but it is a great step for us. I wanted to welcome the Bill because I will not be available for the debate tomorrow.