Vincent P Martin (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. It is so important that hope and the recognition of the challenge coexist in the same room; they are not mutually exclusive. I recall the current Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, addressing a public meeting in Naas a few years ago when the latest league tables were published and Ireland was a laggard. I recall him saying we still have our hope. Therefore, I am confident and assured that he has hope, but I am equally confident and assured that he recognises the sheer challenge facing us, best encapsulated, perhaps, in Sir David Attenborough's most recent documentary, "A Life on our Planet", in which he lays out the war humanity is waging on nature. There can be only one winner. I want to make sure we do not forget about hope, especially for our young people.I meet young people most days and some of them are genuinely traumatised. We must cling to hope. In a sense, the conversation has moved on. On Saturday, the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Senator Hackett, visited Rathcoffey zero-waste community garden. The goodwill was palpable.

There is a golden opportunity for the Greens to deliver. How could the Greens turn down the opportunity of having the two big political parties in government, the two big parties that can reach out to every parish to drive home, to explain, to demystify and to bring people with us on this journey? There is a third party that we have to reach out to in particular, Sinn Féin. If we are going to take people on the journey, there has to be full consultation. When I say Sinn Féin, I also mean every politician from other political parties and Independents.

Is it not ironic that it took the horrific Covid pandemic for the penny to drop for some? A friend of mine recently got back up on his bicycle with his children. He heard the birds sing for the first time. Now more than ever, there are people on our side.

I welcome the Minister referring to the transport strategy and the DART+ programme. It has been essential. In County Kildare, the Connolly Station to Sligo rail line stops short in Maynooth and does not go to Kilcock. The Heuston Station line, heading to Cork and Galway, stops short in Hazelhatch and Celbridge but does not go on to Naas. It should go on to Newbridge and Kildare, which will be music to the ears of Senator O'Loughlin and others. I hope the Minister will review this because that would be a game changer with the acceleration of the volume of people using transport, along with the electrification of the line. We will keep pushing a review of that now that we have a new Government.

I am pleased the Minister referred to biodiversity. It has been inextricably linked. The Native Irish Honey Bee Society is concerned about the native Irish honeybee, Apis mellifera mellifera, which is under huge pressure of being diluted due to the European strain of the Italian honey bee being imported into the country. It does not adapt to our climate, is less frugal in the wintertime and more aggressive to handle. We all accept the importance of pollination. The Green Bar Association - it is not the Green Party Bar Association; it is inclusive - is working on a proposal on a ban on the importation of a strain of bee species which would not be good in the long term for our traditional native local Irish honeybee.

I am delighted the Minister referred to the offshore wind at scale. This is a huge game changer. The Minister is passionate about this and is fully aware of what it can deliver. I am delighted with the just transition programme being rolled out which could create 800,000 jobs. In Allenwood, just one example, eight acres of former Bord na Móna lands have been used to create 150 jobs. Senator Dooley is correct that we are the friends of the farmers. We must bring farmers with us. No change should happen to the detriment of farmers. The change that happens should enrich, improve terms and conditions and quality of life for farmers. Just transition is pivotal in doing that.

There must be buy-in from people. Friends of the Environment Ireland v.Ireland overturned a High Court decision in the Supreme Court which determined that the national mitigation plan, formulated pursuant to statute, was justiciable. In other words, one could bring a judicial review because the national mitigation plan required to specify the manner in which it is proposed to achieve the national transition objective. We need people's participation, accessibility and accountability at the heart of the forthcoming climate Bill. Crucially - a point the Greens get - no party has exclusive rights to this. We have been saying that for years. We are not in politics forever. We have many other policies on social justice. We will only win and succeed when everybody, Opposition and Government, comes together to tackle the greatest challenge facing humanity.