Pauline O'Reilly (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I extend my condolences to Senator Hoey and her family. It is a very difficult time for them. I am sure all our thoughts are with her.

I thank the Deputy Leader for sitting in the Leader's seat today. It is appropriate because I am going to be speaking today about the Department of Education and one of her party's Ministers, who, as I said at the meeting of the education committee yesterday, is doing fantastic work. Looking forward, I would like to have a conversation on what the Department can do, in conjunction with some of the other Departments, on climate action. This is a significant year for climate action. A report was issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, during the summer, while we were not sitting. We have not spoken about it but it is important to mention it in the Chamber. It was a wake-up call for all of us, including all of us in the Green Party, but we have put in place a climate action Bill. The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP26, is coming up, which means every Department, ahead of the budget, will need to think about what it can do. My party can given assurances that it will work with the Minister for Transport to invest in something that will make a significant difference for the Department of Education when it is examining its carbon footprint in respect of school transport. We have probably all received many representations from people whose children have been refused school transport. We now need to consider removing the barriers for children in obtaining school transport because the majority are going to school by car.This is not just a rural problem but is an urban one as well. One should not have to say that one is 4.8 km away from a school in order to get school transport. We should have a revolution in school transport, not just because it is difficult to get to school but also because it reduces our carbon footprint and would be a significant achievement for this Minister in her term of office. We will certainly do all we can to support her in that.