Vincent P Martin (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber. As always, he is a friendly face in the Chamber. I am delighted to be part of the green team sponsoring this Bill, introducing it to the House and bringing it to Second Stage.

I often begin debates on climate related matters by reminding us that nine out of ten people in the world breath unhealthy air. According to the great David Attenborough, air pollution is connected as a cause in approximately 7 million deaths in the world each year, and I am not going to disagree with him. On average, filthy air takes three years off every citizens' life expectancy. I also like to preface remarks, especially after recent debates, by reminding all Members that China has very high emissions per capitaat 7.38%. Ireland's emissions are even higher at 8.32%, while Malawi has a rate of 0.11%. We all have a job to do. We must all step up, especially when one thinks that 400 million of the least well-off people equal Ireland's carbon emissions. That debunks this myth and dismisses the occasional nonsense one hears that, as a small country, Ireland can take it easy and leave the heavy lifting to someone else, that it does not need to care about moral leadership or that the dangerous domino effect of such mocking could catch on.

We have paid tribute to Friends of the Earth and Kate Ruddock. I would like to mention a learned gentleman, Matt Kelly, from my home town, Naas. Shortly after I was elected to the county council - and regularly ever since - he was one of the many people who pointed out lacunas in the law. He is one of many, including the Green Party - we are fortunate to have the Green Party in government - who are aware and will be the first to admit that this is just a small piece in the overall jigsaw.

It is correct to say that we do not have a feed-in tariff. At the moment, excess photovoltaics, PV, generation feeds back into the electricity grid with no compensation at all. That must change. It is going to change in a new green world, unrecognisable to what has gone before.However, I urge one note of caution in this debate. With the greening of the world comes forensic examination and assessment of what is going on. When you hear it is green, do not automatically assume that it is clean and safe. In the Green Party we have no time for green washing. Each and every green project should stand up to scrutiny. If it is a proper green project, it will succeed. Such projects should be forensically proofed. There should be community buy-in.

There are already entrepreneurs in the market. We know that the greening of the world is coming with the so-called "Obamaisation". Going green can puts money in people's pockets. I want everyone to get involved in that, but not to turn a quick buck at all costs. I am thinking, in particular, of the lithium battery storage unit projects. It is incredibly important that those projects are done right with State supervision. It should not be the case that an entrepreneur comes in from another jurisdiction, registers a company in the Republic of Ireland to make a quick buck, puts in an application for one of these plants, even though he or she probably could not name three streets in the town and has never set foot in the town in his or her life, and expects the community to be delighted. I am not naming any plants in particular. Have we learned anything from the ten years of wind turbines? We have and we got that right. Therefore, for the next stage, it is vitally important that we bring people with us, have community gain and buy-in and State involvement. It must not be about making a quick buck. It must be done right. There must be long-term buy-in and a sense of security and community ownership. If we do it right, communities will queuing up to embrace the technology.

Finally, I note that Senator Boyhan spotted - and he is a forensic spotter - that this Bill is in fact an amendment of secondary legislation. That is clearly stated in the Bill and we make no qualms about it. The Green Party is in a hurry. Whatever happens, we will change the law by whatever means necessary, whether it is by amending primary or secondary legislation. We do not have the time. The country and the world do not have the time. As Greta Thurnberg said: "Our house is on fire." When a house is on fire, you put out the fire. Without getting carried away, the Seanad has put out a small but meaningful fire on the road to putting out bigger fires and ensuring that we never reach the irreversible tipping point from which we can never return.