Emer Currie (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

My children will thank us for this Bill. They stood outside their schools shouting "What do we want? Climate Action. When do we want it? Now." They started doing that when they were four and six years of age. In 2050, they will be 37 and 35 and because of this law, their children will not have to do that same thing. We will have a climate resilient biodiversity-rich environmentally sustainable and climate neutral economy. This is their guarantee that we will act. This is our national climate objective. By the end of this decade, we will have achieved a 51% reduction in carbon emissions, as enshrined in law, backed up by two five-year carbon budgets.We will achieve that through the framework set out in this Bill, meeting our international and EU commitments and becoming a leader in climate action. We are talking mainly in legal terms this morning but this is all about empowering people to make the changes they need to make in their everyday lives, whether that is transport, cycling to school, working closer to home or getting rid of waste sustainably. All those things are what will make this real for people.

To focus more on the legal side, the actions for each sector will be detailed in a climate action plan which will be updated annually. The Ministers will be responsible for achieving the legally binding targets for their areas and those targets and actions will go before an Oireachtas committee. Ministers will have to be accountable, as will local authorities and public bodies. It is about being ambitious and accountable, as well as delivery. We must be able to see the opportunities in this transformation to value sustainability and decarbonisation, and this is an opportunity for us.

It is correct that farming is sometimes at the sharp end of this, especially when so many farmers put so much effort into creating brand Ireland. The brand is associated with high-quality food produce and the agrifood sector, our grass-fed beef and dairy, and what we are doing with origin green and organic produce are the envy of the world. We should be very proud of that and help farmers through the transition. It was great to see funding from Science Foundation Ireland for climate-neutral farms and the work around that. I am not afraid of that and I do not think that farmers should be afraid of it either. This is all about opportunity while retaining the reputation we have. While it is also about the level of emissions, for us it has always been about quality, nutrition, provenance and farm to fork too. All the areas we have invested in over the years are part of our identity. I agree with those who have said that CAP is the key to that and protecting farming for the future.

Our action on jobs, retrofitting and investing in offshore wind all spell opportunity. At the same time, all of our communities have to see a climate action dividend. The announcement last week on safe routes to school was brilliant but we must do more. I am thinking of my area, west Dublin, and I want to put the idea of a Liffey Valley park back on the table. Hundreds of acres are available on both the Fingal and South Dublin County Council sides, with Waterstown Park and Palmerstown and the Strawberry Beds. There are linkages there. Businesses are sprouting up along the Strawberry Beds that offer something new to people in their community. Covid showed people what was under their noses and tapped into the change they were looking for to live more sustainably. We have to provide the infrastructure to maintain that behaviour. We are investing in transport and safe routes to school but this also means providing facilities on people's doorsteps that they can see and be proud of. If we invest, there are opportunities for greenways along the Strawberry Beds, taking advantage of the Silver Bridge from Waterstown Park over to Farmleigh.It is a special amenity order area and has a huge amount of potential.

In terms of localism, there is so much more potential to do more in suburban areas in respect of combining digitisation and remote working with supporting traditional businesses. Senator Boyhan referred to the Our Rural Future policy as a really good blueprint and I believe that needs to be replicated in suburban areas as well. I say well done on the research into a four-day week as well. This is all about opportunity and taking advantage of it. I am grateful to be able to say that I stood here today and gave my support to this Bill, for which my children will thank me.