Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I would never profess to have anywhere near the same level of expertise and knowledge as my colleague, Senator Boylan, or Senator Higgins on this, but I do understand the politics of it and the climate, biodiversity and environmental emergency we face. I found the Minister of State's response to amendment No. 64 more than lacklustre. With the greatest respect, what is the point of Deputy Ossian Smyth being Minister of State if he is going to come in here and say we will wait while Europe talks about this? Europe is talking about it, but there is no confirmation here. I just cannot get my head around that in the context of what we are dealing with here and what we are advocating. The Minister of State says Ireland is a small economy. What if we were to take that approach to all environmental issues?Is that the formal policy of this Government and, indeed, the Green Party now? Is the policy that Ireland is a small economy, that it would not make all that much difference, and that we will just wait and see when the EU is finished talking about it? We have the opportunity to do something practical here. That is the point of view. The point of these institutions is actually to deliver something that would make a substantial difference given the rationale and context that has been outlined by colleagues today. I do not think the disappointment, frustration and disbelief in that approach and response would be confined to this House. I cannot quite get my head around that. I am immensely disappointed and I am sure I will not be alone in that regard.