Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I join with the words of heartfelt sympathy across the House to the family of Cormac Ó Braonáin, a brilliant young man. It is such a tragedy. I offer our sympathy to his colleagues in the Labour Party. He is a great loss to Ireland and more particularly to his family. We need idealistic young people like him.

I congratulate John Finucane on his election in Northern Ireland. I was a guest of his on a committee visit recently in his capacity as lord mayor when we were in the North with a group from the Oireachtas. I was very impressed by the way he received us, his welcome and his remarks, and I wish him well. I also congratulate both Colum Eastwood and Claire Hanna. The SDLP has suffered a lot in the Northern Ireland context but it has been a very consistent voice. It is good they have recovered.

In case I do not get to speak tomorrow, I want to join in the felicitous remarks to all the staff and Members of the House.

I ask the Deputy Leader to invite the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Bruton, to the House in the new year to discuss the climate change agenda with special reference to rural Ireland. I am thinking of two very important issues that are clear in places such as Cavan and Monaghan, where I come from, and throughout rural Ireland. The first is the question of rural transport. If we are to move away from diesel cars and carbon emitting vehicles, we need a better rural transport infrastructure and better connectivity between small towns. In consultation with the Minister, Bus Éireann needs to deal with that. We need a better rural transport system. While Irish Rural Link is doing well, we need to supplement it and work on the area of rural transport.

If we are moving away from fossil fuels, people throughout the country, and specifically in rural Ireland, need practical support through grant aid to bring their houses up to the condition whereby they can cope with the new energy regime. That is important in regard to old houses in particular. We need a fuller grant scheme to deal with that and I ask the Deputy Leader to address that.

I hope we can have that debate on rural Ireland and climate change, and branching into the agricultural sector as well. All of that needs a thorough discussion in the House in the new year because we cannot have a climate change agenda that puts rural Ireland in a bad position.