Róisín Garvey (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh na feisirí. Tá sárobair déanta ag Seán Kelly ó thaobh ár dteanga álainn. Tá an meas atá tuillte aici san Eoraip faoi dheireadh. Bail ó Dhia air mar gheall ar an tsárobair. Tá sé sin an-tábhachtach dom. Gabhaim buíochas ó chroí leis. Labhróidh mé inniu mar gheall ar athrú aeráide amháin.

Mary Robinson, one of my heroes, was in recently to celebrate 100 years of the Seanad and she said it would be remiss of us not to discuss climate every single day in the Seanad. So I choose to do so today. I am only in the Green Party because I care about climate change and biodiversity but I would really like to see every party as concerned as we are. Then we would not need to be in existence. I do not see it happening at a European level. I am deeply concerned because as a member state of the European Union, Ireland is led by the EU and in some ways we have had some good environmental things come in but we have also had some other issues. For instance, food labelling is a huge issue in Ireland for Irish producers.

We cannot sustain ourselves without food and in light of climate change and biodiversity, if we do not look at food properly we are going to be in serious trouble as an island nation. We have not the proper supports to stop the complete destruction of our fish stocks even though we know now that it is illegal and they cannot come in but then it happens and I do not know what we are doing about it at an EU level. Ms O'Sullivan has done some work on it but it has to come from everybody. It cannot just be left to the Greens. We are not going to solve any problems if it is just left to the Greens.

The other big thing was the Mercosur deal. Not only is it cutting down the rainforest, it is bringing meat from the other side of the planet when we have a surplus of beef and milk here in our own country for which farmers are getting underpaid. In the meantime, we are also talking about maybe exporting pigs to China. The whole thing is completely insane. If we look at food alone, we will not be able to deal with climate. If we look at food and try to solve the food issue, it will make a huge inroad into dealing with the climate issue. We have to see that these things are linked. If we do not sort out the biodiversity crisis we will not be able to grow food. If you do not have biodiversity, you do not have insects that pollinate. Most people here know, hopefully, that if you do not pollinate, you do not get fruit or vegetables because they come after the flower has been pollinated. This issue is far beyond the Green Party. I do not care if we do not get any credit for anything but it has to be taken really seriously. Going to Europe many times as a teenager is what inspired me. Thirty years ago, I went to Germany and saw solutions there that we still do not have here yet. We in the Green Party are in government but we are a small party in government. Ireland is a small island in Europe but if we do not take it seriously, the people who are not taking climate seriously will be the ones who will be up in arms, probably literally, when billions of people are migrating to Europe as a result of our failing to take climate and biodiversity seriously.