Róisín Garvey (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Fearaim fáilte roimh an Taoiseach isteach sa Teach. Is onóir mhór dom an deis seo a bheith agam labhairt leis, fiú amháin más dhá nóiméad atá agam chuige sin. Ar an gcéad dul síos, tá dúshlán mór romhainn inniu leis an Covid-19 seo mar ní muidne faoi deara é. Sometimes it seems we are blamed for Covid. None of us invented or created it. From the very get go we have been trying to figure out how the hell we deal with it. What I see is sad. We have a great nation and a great people and throughout the pandemic we have seen how people have rallied together. Perhaps it is thanks to social media, and we can blame other people also, but I also see huge polarisation happening in Irish society. It makes me very sad because we have seen what it has done in the United States and other countries. It does not serve anybody. Perhaps it serves some people with their own agenda but it does not serve the people of this country. We need to pull together as a nation, whether in Opposition parties, the media or social media. We need to cop on and take things seriously.

We have a climate emergency now that we also have to deal with and a biodiversity emergency that is affecting people on a very local level. Huge amounts of land will be lost by farmers because of flooding because we are not dealing with it properly. Engineering solutions are the one fix we have for all. They are part of the solution. They cost an arm and a leg but they are not solving the problems on their own. We have to have catchment-based solutions.

We also have to look at the fact that local authorities are brilliant but have an important part to play. There are inconsistencies in local authorities. There is a great designer in Dún Laoghaire, a good road safety officer in Dublin, a great climate officer in Mayo and a brilliant heritage officer in Clare. We do not have targets for our local authorities. They are at the grassroots of it also. We need to have standards and targets for every local authority. They are the beginning and end of us dealing with everything at the coalface when it comes to Covid and climate. I thank the Taoiseach for listening and I wish him the best of luck. He does not have an easy job. He did not come into office at an easy time agus go n-éirí go geal leis an Taoiseach.