Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome former President, Mrs. Robinson, back to the Seanad Chamber. As a fellow west of Ireland person, I am particularly proud to be here today to engage with her.

First, I wish to acknowledge the years and, indeed, lifetime of advocacy for social change in respect of the rights of individuals, which is exemplified in her Seanad record, and all the advocacy that has happened since then in the life-changing referendums that we have initiated in this country.

I also wish to acknowledge Mrs. Robinson's advocacy in protecting the climate. She touched on the depletion of the ozone layer. I am heading towards 50 years of age but I can remember that in the 1980s and 1990s the depletion of the ozone layer was the first big environmental issue that we heard of along with the banning of CFCs, which, thankfully, has succeeded. Initiatives to protect our environment have worked.

As part of the 2016 programme for Government, we initiated the citizen's assembly on decarbonisation, which led to the 2019 Climate Action Plan. This country has played its party in dealing with climate issues. We established carbon budgets and targets, the climate delivery board in the Department of the Taoiseach, the independent Climate Change Advisory Council, ensured the introduction of the concept of a just transition and essential climate action measures, and also ensured the Climate Action Fund was established. Mrs. Robinson is right that plans, as we have in local authorities, are not worth much unless they are followed through with funding. We are conscious of and acknowledge that more needs to be done.

I engaged with people as part of the recent local election campaign and they commented that the world is in a strange place, and there is a lot going on that is having an impact, which is resonating with a great number of people. One would also hear from people over the last period, particularly from farmers, that something different is happening. They might not call it climate change but they are saying the climate or weather has changed and it is not like it used to be. There is an acknowledgement that things are being impacted because of the state of the world. We, in the West, are playing our part. My difficulty is that not every country is and the larger countries are not such as the US or China. Great work has been done to remove rubbish and trash from our oceans but seven to nine countries have been pinpointed. Ireland plays a very important role as a small country but we need all countries to step up and assist.