Pauline O'Reilly (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for coming in. It is correct that while I listen to contributions from my colleagues, they are talking about local action. The Minister is passionate about that also. Historic action was taken at COP27 on the negotiation about loss and damage. I could spend my six minutes talking about that. The Minister himself and the public know that Ireland, represented by the Minister, was a part of moving forward on loss and damage for the very poorest nations in the world. We need to remember that.It was not just because of our history and the fact we were not colonial but rather it was because of the Minister's negotiation skills being recognised at European level. That needs to be recognised at home. We need to compensate the poorest nations and take action at home. I sometimes worry that people do not realise that action will make their lives better. There will also be a transition, which will be a little bit of a challenge for us here in Ireland.

This week, as happened last week and will happen next week, people from the media will come before the Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action. This is almost the most important part of the work we are doing on the committee. It has done important work around getting the climate Act agreed on a cross-party basis. Communication with people is critical because people know climate change is a reality. I do not think we are where we were five or ten years ago, when we would turn on the radio and nobody would mention climate or there would be some kind of equivalence between climate change experts and deniers. We are not in that position any more, but across the country people are not admitting what action needs to be taken in their local communities.

Senator Murphy spoke about the action that needs to be taken in his community, and I will talk about the action that needs to be taken in the west of Ireland. People need to see and feel it on the ground. The western rail corridor is very much part of that. It is not just about whether it makes economic sense, which it does. It is also about people in the west of Ireland needing to feel that action is being taken so that they can be part of that.

Small pieces of infrastructure can be provided, such as the Athenry to Oranmore greenway. People need to get onto that cycleway and feel what it is like to cycle around their local community, and not what it is like to cycle around Copenhagen which I did last weekend. People need to feel what it is like to cycle around Galway, Mayo, Clare and wherever else, experience it and get on board with that change.

I spoke to some of my colleagues over the past week about how much we enjoy cycling and walking. We also spoke about the fact that when we were kids we never got into a car to get school. We always got onto a bike or walked 2 km or 3 km - in my case, I travelled 2 km to school. We now feel like we are a modern society and no child should have to go out in the rain any more, and can instead get into a comfortable vehicle to get to school. We need a complete shift. We need to decide that when it is raining outside children can put on their jackets and walk or cycle to school. They will feel better after doing so.

People want to do things like this but I am not sure they are hearing around them what change actually means. They are not hearing this on radio or television stations or hearing their friends talking about it. We have policies, legislation and all of the funding is in place and we now need transition on the grounds so people can feel it.

I am not necessarily appealing to the Minister, but rather to everybody else who is listening in local authorities and local communities to be a part of that transition. Corporations need to pay, but we need to take action. We need to tell people if there is a bus, they should take it and if there is a cycle lane or a bike outside the house to jump on it and perhaps be ten minutes later than they would have been had they travelled by car. Is that so bad? They will feel better when they arrive.

I am going to doors quite a lot to see what people are thinking and feeling. People are predominantly positive. However, I met somebody who told me if they travel by bus from Oranmore into the city, it takes ten minutes longer than travelling by car. Oranmore is quite a distance from the city and the person is quite correct that it takes a little bit longer to get there. We could cut ten minutes from the journey if the bus route did not go through the hospital each time. A bit of creative thinking could ensure every second bus does not have to go through the hospital and instead travels straight into the city. A few more people would use such a service.

We need councillors to bite the bullet and take back our parking spaces. We also need everybody to feel they are going to hop on a bike and not get into a car. It does not mean that people do not have cars but rather, it means that one day people choose to hop on a bike rather than get in a car.