Sarah O'Reilly (Aontú)

I thank the Minister of State for coming here today. When it comes to air pollution, we need more carrot and less stick. The rate of retrofitting is very slow and we must ask why. In 2024, nearly 54,000 homes were retrofitted in Ireland. About 33,000 houses get solar panels each year and there are 2 million homes in Ireland. Therefore, it will take 50 years to get solar panels on those houses at this rate. There is a lot more the Government could be doing to tackle climate change.

That being said, Aontú is opposed to this legislation. It is extremely draconian. I drilled down into the detail of this Bill well over a year ago when it was in draft form. I am shocked to see that the Bill has not been altered or amended since then. Not since Covid have I seen legislation like this which grants extraordinary powers to the Minister of the day. It allows local authorities to appoint anyone they see fit as what is called "an authorised person". They would be granted the power to stop and detain vehicles and raid private dwellings if they suspect a person of cutting or burning turf. I am not scaremongering here and urge Senators to actually read the wording of this Bill. If someone breaches the regulations they are threatened under section 53K, to be inserted by this Bill, with a fine of half a million euro or 12 months in prison. This is someone who breaches regulations, not law. What we are being asked to do here is to write a blank cheque for the Minister and future Ministers to set whatever regulations they like. We have not been told what those regulations are or will be but that people who breach the regulations will be thrown in jail or fined half a million euro.

God forbid if the Green Party ever got back into power because God knows what its members would do with their anti-rural agenda. All of this is in the Bill and I ask people to read it. Nobody in this House who calls themselves a democrat can support this bizarre legislation. It sets a very dangerous precedent in respect of the legislative process, and I must object to it in the strongest terms possible.