I am pleased to hear that €287 million is being spent. It falls short of the €360 million but we have to recognise it will take time to build up to that and it is with the local authorities to develop the pipeline of projects. It would be good if the Minister of State could speak to the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, and ask him to consult the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, on pushing the local authorities to develop that pipeline. I welcome the Minister of State's point about 1,000 km of active travel infrastruct…

It harks back to my earlier question about the sustainable mobility policy which is in development and which the Minister of State told us we will have by the end of this year. That is welcome. The policy and the investment the Minister of State spoke about is important because we have a car-oriented society which has developed over the last 40 years or so. Some 74% of all journeys are made by private car. In my city, 70% of all journeys under 3 km are made by private car. We have to transition. They are journeys t…

The conclusions from the last European Council meeting restated Europe's unambiguous approach that it is essential to keep the 1.5°C global warming limit within reach. I take this opportunity to congratulate An Taoiseach on his speech to the Conference of the Parties in Glasgow yesterday. It was an eloquent statement of Ireland's and Europe's commitment. The praise An Taoiseach's speech received, both here in Ireland and internationally, was well deserved. The European Council highlighted the importance of climate …

Taxation is a good thing because it gives us revenue to redistribute. We are increasing carbon tax in a progressive way. We did it last year, we will do it this year, and we will continue to do it for the lifetime of this Government.

Of course, the European Council also noted that ultimately we need to accelerate the energy transition so that Europe is not at the whim of third countries for its energy supply. We talk about Ireland's opportunity with offshore wind, but when we look at the potential of offshore wind on the Atlantic coast, it is as much a European opportunity as an Irish opportunity. We have so much more generation potential than other European countries, and with the development of a pan-European supergrid, we can help to power t…

I want to address the taxation measures in the Bill. As the Minister outlined, the Government has agreed to a schedule of carbon tax increases up to 2030. There is certainty there for householders and businesses as to what will happen in the future. The Minister correctly stated that it would be absolutely wrong to resile from that signal at the first increase in fuel costs. The programme of carbon tax increases and how those increases will be redistributed is a progressive programme of taxation that will help Irel…

The Deputy should have got the Luas.

I thank Deputy Durkan; I believe I have time. I echo the sentiments that have been expressed in the House this afternoon in respect of Poland. I share the grave concerns that have been expressed by Members across the House with respect to what is happening with the European Court of Justice regarding climate, about which I intend to speak about today. Poland is seeking to cancel elements of the European Union's Fit for 55 package, namely, those parts that relate to carbon markets being set up for transport and buil…

I welcome this budget. I will address specifically the issue of progressive taxation. I believe that most people want to see a fairer society that redistributes income from the well off to the less well off. Despite some of the statements made in the House today and yesterday, carbon tax is a key progressive tax that protects households on lower incomes while still incentivising a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Through the carbon tax we will raise an addition €174 million in 2022. Of this additional revenue…

I move: That Dáil Éireann: (1) notes the agreed Report of the Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action under Dáil Standing Order 133 on COM (2021) 551, 554, 555, 557, 558 and 568 – Legislative proposals of the EU ‘Fit for 55’ package, which was laid before Dáil Éireann on 28th September, 2021, in accordance with Standing Order 133(3)(b); (2) having regard to the aforementioned Report, and in exercise of its functions under section 7(3) of the European Union Act 2009, is of the opinion that the proposals CO…

What we value as a nation matters. We had a very good discussion last night in this House on Afghanistan, with many insightful contributions. What I heard was a general acceptance we feel strongly that helping people of other nations is an important part of our national identity. In our decade of centenaries, we stand proud in the world, providing leadership on issues of justice and equality. I repeat the point I made last night. We can and we must dramatically reduce our emissions to play our part in making the fu…

This week, Bord na Móna announced an innovative new project near Rochfortbridge in County Westmeath, namely, a renewable energy park consisting of 200 MW of electricity that will be generated from renewable sources such as wind, solar, energy storage and green hydrogen production. Bord na Móna wants to attract high-demand energy users, such as data centres and distribution centres, to locate on this site to benefit from the on-site renewable energy supply. The effect of this Bill would be to torpedo this developmen…

There is a de facto moratorium already.

I understand where Opposition Members are coming from. I understand their concern around climate. They are absolutely correct to be as concerned as they are. We are in an existential crisis; on that we are agreed. It is heartening they are displaying ambition in opposition that perhaps some of them did not display before. It is good they are now on record as displaying such ambition. Sadly, their contributions show how poorly informed they are and that is a real concern. We expect a reasonable level of debate in th…

The situation in Afghanistan is stark, as Deputy Cathal Crowe and many other speakers have noted. Despite promises that there would be inclusive governance in Afghanistan, there is a new cabinet whose members are all male and all Taliban. Protests have been banned, press freedom has been severely restricted and the Taliban has announced that the country will be ruled along Sharia law principles, which may exclude women from the workforce and other areas of public life. I know that Ireland will use its Presidency of…

I support much of what my colleague, Deputy Matthews, said in his contribution. In particular, I support his tributes to the Minister. Housing for All is a very good document and a very good plan. There was lots of evidence on the day it was launched that the Minister had taken on advice and suggestions from his colleagues in government, from colleagues across the Oireachtas, from NGOs that are working hard in the area of housing, particularly homelessness, and, most important, from people throughout the country wh…

While I welcome some aspects of the Bill, it is worth viewing it in the context of Irish fisheries policy and our approach to protecting our marine ecosystems. As legislators, we should always be cautious when introducing regulations that impose a bureaucratic burden on citizens. However, when we are considering the protection of the environment and ecosystems, we often frame the debate about environmental regulation as a false war between a busybody State which seeks to unfairly restrict the activities of the like…

Today is an historic day for the city and county of Limerick as the 40 km Limerick greenway has opened along the old Great Southern Railways line. This is part of a broad vision and network of greenways that will link counties Kerry, Clare, Tipperary and Limerick, with Limerick city as the hub. We hope to bring the greenway back into Limerick city and be able to extend it through east Clare up to Scarriff and, in the long run, down to Cahir in Tipperary. These greenways will serve community transport in terms of pe…

I thank the Minister. He and his officials have produced very important and stellar legislation which I believe will stand the test of time. I thank the committee, chaired by Deputy Matthews of my party and whose office is down from mine in Leinster House. I have seen his dedication and hard work on this over recent months. In this debate so far we have not touched on one of the more important reasons we would have a Land Development Agency as conceived by this legislation. At the outset of this Government 12 month…

The Ceann Comhairle got there before me to defend the honour of the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, as a proud Kilkenny man. I echo Deputy Michael Healy-Rae in commending councillors up and down the country for the work they have been doing in the last year around development plans. My own colleagues in Limerick, Councillors Sasha Novak and Sean Hartigan, have done really quite extraordinary work in the last few months, poring over thousands of pages of documents. I commend also the officials in Limerick City and…