Climate Action Plan
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-17
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Micheál Martin (FF), Cork South-Central

I agree with Deputy Conway-Walsh on the Skillnet project. Bord na Móna is a transformative State agency. It is a great example of how to go from being a contributor to probably making one of the better contributions among State agencies to the climate change agenda and to addressing climate change. There will be further economic dividends arising out of the transformation Bord na Móna has undertaken and been part of. Bord na Móna is a good story. On public transport, the NDP allocation is 2:1 in favour of public transport. That is important.
Deputy Quaide asked about the urbanisation of floodplains. The Government supports the nature-based approach to flooding and to dealing with these issues. I accept the Deputy's point that it is not a silver bullet. It is not an either-or. The optimal position is the hard engineering projects but complemented and supplemented by nature-based measures. We need to rewet a lot more of our uplands. We need to engage with our agricultural community in that regard because what I saw in Aughrim the other day was quite frightening in terms of what came down from the mountains, taking roads with it and putting people in difficult positions in terms of life and limb. As a society, we have not fully grasped the importance of adaptation. We, in government, have more to do in that regard. I will be honest about that. I think we need to do more on the adaptation side.
Deputy Heneghan asked about the plug-in solar. I will talk to the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, in respect of that. Anything we can do that makes it more affordable and better for people we will do. Solar is really driving now. Solar generation is really progressing very fast and is now becoming quite a significant factor in terms of renewable energy in the country and what Deputy Heneghan is suggesting is even more of that.
On Deputy Lawless's point, I supported the nature-based solutions. On the 40,000 tonnes of seaweed, I believe we should protect, in so far as we can, our resources in that regard. I think the Deputy still supports the harvesting of seaweed but more for the local community as opposed to anybody else. It is a local economic approach as opposed to a climate approach. That is fair enough. That seems to be the view. I will check where the coastal management strategy is. I have asked the Department in terms of coastal protection, and I discussed this recently with local authorities, OPW and the various Government Departments, to make sure we have a lead in that and get working on it.
I appreciate Deputy Cleere's positive commentary in relation to the roads programme for Carlow and Kilkenny, including the N25, N24, the Callan bypass, the quay in Thomastown and the south Kilkenny upgrade as well. The Deputy raised the issue of the flooding and the impact of that. I have spoken to the Minister for Transport and the officials in that Department, saying that a lot of roads have been damaged by the floods and asking them to tell the local authorities to get on with it and start repairing them. There are estimates coming in but there are roads needing immediate repairs to make them traversable and so on. We will keep pursuing that. Obviously, those projects are ones the Deputy is going to see through to the end and I appreciate that.
I will say to Deputy Tóibín that it is not the norm to be derogatory about former Ministers and people who have served in the House.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-17/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:38+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-17