Róisín Garvey (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House. We have been talking about climate change for a long time but we now see from the IPCC report that the time for talk is over and we need action. Unfortunately, the Green Party has not been listened to for the last 30 years. Luckily, we are in government now and we have worked very hard on this climate action plan and this climate budget and, for the first time ever, we will see sectoral targets. I am spokesperson for enterprise, trade and employment and rural development. We have had a lot of ambitious talk, greenwashing, and "sustainable this" and "sustainable that" happening for years. Businesses have caught on to the talk and some big business lobbies have caught on to the talk, but we need targets. Without targets, it is a waste of time. It is like being an archer with no bullseye. This sets out proper targets.

For example, in enterprise we need to reduce carbon emissions by 29% to 41%, so it is no good just saying “Oh yes, we have a little thing where we turn off the lights” or “Look, we use reusable bags. We are green.” That game is over. We need proper targets. This is what we need to do. We needed to do it 20 years ago so, without further delay, we need this motion passed and we need to move into action mode. The carbon budgets must be approved by both Houses. The Dáil will debate the motion on Wednesday, which is a formality following the Oireachtas committee deliberations.

When it is popular, many people are green and they are into green things, and when it is not popular, they are not into green things. We have seen this recently. It is said that we are not doing enough one day and then we are doing too much another day. At the end of the day, if there was not a Green Party, we would not be having this debate. Let us stop playing political football with something that is actually threatening human life. It is not just global because we are going to have a huge issue here. Even in my own county, I see farmers losing much more land than ever before to flooding and coastal areas are in serious trouble. Towns and villages all over Ireland are going to be threatened unless we plan properly and take it seriously, and every single section of society has to do this. When this is passed, we can move towards a stage where the Ministers have to set out their sectoral targets. That is what we need to do. We needed to do it 30 years ago but we certainly need to do it today and we need to take it very seriously. Even if you do not care about the migrants all over the world, care about your own house, your own neighbour. This is real and it is on our doorsteps.