Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I sincerely congratulate the Minister on his appointment. I had the privilege of joining Dáil Éireann in 2016 and one of the greatest working relationships I had was with him. I come from a rural community where people often say that the Minister does not care about them. He does care about people. If I am not mistaken, he has a strong association with County Tipperary. I assure the House that the Minister would speak to any rural community he was asked to. To be quite honest, I want to stop the sense of "us and them" about climate change in this country. I want specifically to say to the people of rural Ireland that it will not be an us-and-them situation. That is true from the perspectives of Fianna Fáil, the Green Party and Fine Gael. The Government will be fair and ensure that difficulties for rural communities will be addressed. We might have problems with emissions but substitutions will be put in place in order to lessen the burden of taxation on people. This matter affects both people in rural Ireland and, as Senator Fitzpatrick said, in urban areas. Let everybody from all political perspectives, whether that of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Independent, Sinn Féin, the Labour Party or whatever, confirm that this is not a situation of us and them.

Decarbonisation is no longer a buzzword, it is a reality for every part of our society. How we achieve it and overcome difficulties will be challenging but those difficulties will not be overcome by creating us-and-them situations. Incorrect material is sometimes put out in order to frighten people.

Past Governments may not have lived up to the challenge of looking after people in fuel poverty as well as they should have but the need for supports for such people has always been acknowledged. The issue of fuel poverty, and the need to address it, is often mentioned in the programme for Government and within the three parties. We must look after people who may be challenged by increased taxes. That must be clearly dealt with.

Earlier today, I asked the Leader to suggest that, in the future, the Minister will come before us and specifically talk about my area, notwithstanding the fact that I know that the Minister has much work to do at the moment. The situation relating to Bord na Móna and just transition is shocking. The transition was to occur over an eight-year period but has happened virtually overnight. That has created a great challenge. I know that the Minister has taken a keen interest in the matter. The people of Shannonbridge, Ballinasloe, Lanesborough, Longford and Roscommon look forward to engaging on the matter. Let us come forward with jobs. All the better if they are green jobs. Bord na Móna and the ESB were the economic lifeline of our locality for 70 years and thousands of people relied on them. We all must acknowledge that change is coming rapidly but we must ensure that those communities are not left behind. I am sure the Minister agrees.It is a challenge that I recognise as such and it is one for everybody in this Chamber, if they are sincere about politics. Members of this House must not engage in "us and them" politics. We must not put fear into people about changes that must be made. We must help people along. I know the Minister will engage with communities and he will have my full support in whatever he does. Of course we will have challenges and differences of opinion but this is certainly a challenge we have to meet.

Rural communities should not be afraid. We will meet the challenges. We know there are issues with public transport. Rural areas do not have the public transport system that some urban areas have. We will have to rectify that. While LocalLink has come on board and more people now have access to that type of travel, it still does not solve the problem. Let us move forward. The establishment of the climate action fund is good. I look forward to many people in urban and rural areas putting forward suggestions and ideas for this fund.