Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

They find themselves at the edge of their own political party and many of them have had to leave and take another road. Some others have stayed and I admire them too. They face difficulties. They have engaged with me, someone who is not a member of the Green Party but supports many of its aspirations. I have always been willing to engage. Those of them who are listening to today's debate know who they are. I thank them for their continuous efforts, emails and communication with me and others in this House. They have been a source, indeed a fountain, of knowledge. They believe in a just transition and have set up their own just transition group within the green movement. They stayed the pace, against the odds. I have no doubt but that we will see many of those people engaging in local, national and international politics in the future. From my engagement and experience, I thank those people.What are just transition groups within the Green Party, An Taisce, Friends of the Earth and the Irish Environmental Network saying and telling us? They are saying that the environment is important. However, we cannot isolate it from commerce, jobs or supporting people and families. I talked earlier about the people in Monaghan in the mushroom sector. This very day they are looking in and asking whether they will have jobs in a year's time.

Lip service is paid to the need to support people, workers, farmers and others but it is by our actions in this House that we will be judged, not by our words. This amendment needs to be voted on because we need to have it on the record. We will have another day and we have a story to tell. We have to hold people to account for their actions rather than rely on platitudes or words. I thank those who stayed the course and are committed but feel in some way locked out.

I referred to amendments Nos. 13 and 14. My thanks go to the Deputies in Dáil Éireann who did not have an opportunity to debate them. There is no magic or wisdom of mine here. I salute Deputy Whitmore in the Dáil. She came up with these versions of what a just transition means and Sinn Féin had several excellent amendments in a similar vein. The Deputies in question did not have an opportunity to put them to Dáil Éireann, however. The same applied to Deputy Duncan Smith and members of the Labour Party. The genesis of many of the amendments the Minister can see today was in Dáil Éireann but Deputies did not have an opportunity to discuss them. It is another House and this is another day. This is now Seanad Éireann.

Before l address amendment No. 142 from Senator Pauline O'Reilly, I will deal with amendment No. 141 from Sinn Féin, which I fully support. I also support amendment No. 142 from Senator O'Reilly and the other Green Party Senators. It proposes only to insert a phrase but it is an important phrase. Senator O'Reilly made that point and to be fair to her, she was right to do so. Words are important as well as actions. I fully support the Green Party amendment to include the term "just transition" in the Title. We have to send a clear message. At the end of the day, we have to bring people and communities with us. Bringing small, medium and large farmers with us is critical.

I have followed the career of the Minister for many years. I know he is absolutely committed and I understand the dilemma he finds himself in as a member of the smallest party in government. I say that genuinely. I have absolute respect for the Minister and the road he has taken over many years as the champion of our environment, ecology and the green movement.

I believe this is a reasonable, fair and pragmatic series of amendments. Many of them came initially from Dáil Éireann and are being introduced in this House in different forms. I urge the Minister to send out a message of unity to people with whom he may have disagreed previously. This is an important and mature debate and we need a decision. I appeal to the Minister to support this series of amendments.